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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commen^ant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols ~»> signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film^s d dss taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film6 d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut an bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE LIFE OF SEBASTIAN CABOT. Ks^ . ,^„. i i /-" s.. . ■-«■ ' I THE REMARKABLE LIFE, ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES OF SEBASTIAN CABOT, OF BRISTOL, THE FOUNDER OF GREAT BRITAIN'S MARITIME POWER, DISCOVERER OF AMERICA, AND ITS FIRST COLONIZER. BY J. F. NICHOLAS, CITV LIBRARIAN, BRISTOL. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND MARSTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, FLEET STREET. 1869. mmmm if i tHlSWICK press:— PRINTED BY WHiTTINGHAM AND WILKINS, TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. I I TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL FRANCIS ADAMS. Esquire, THE MAYOR, THE WORSHIPFUL THE ALDERMEN, THE HIGH SHERIFF. THE MEMBERS OF THE TOWN COUNCIL, AND J. F. LUCAS, Es(^uiRE, THE MASTER, THE WARDENS, AND COMMONALTV, OF THE SOCIETY OF MERCHANT ADVENTURERS OF I'HE CITY OF BRISTOL, W0 i^lonocrapj? of SEBASTIAN CABOT, A FELLOW CITIZEN, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. I I PREFACE. AKLUYT, a Prebendary of Brif- tol, in 1584, in writing the ** J^arly Hiftory of Maritime F ^-erpiife," conferred a great boon on all fuc- ceeding hiftorans ; but it muft be allowed that, occafionally, he took great liberties with the text of his authorities. His errors have been followed to a greater or lefler extent, by our principal naval writers, who were moft of them content to accept his authority without the trouble of further fearch. Thus the three or more voyages of Cabot are jumbled together in Ramufio's ftatement altered by Hakluyt, and again by his copyifts, leaving the whole a contradictory and bewilder- ing puzzle to all who read the differing ftate- ments. The writer has felt that the recent difcovery in the " Bibliotheque Imperial " of a map of ; 1 !l I A t i: ii viu Preface, Cabot, dated 1 544, gives a key to the enigma, and the following pages attempt to define the feparate voyages, the objedt and refults of each, from a careful analyfis of all the evidence at command. Still, had Biddle's memoir of Sebaftian Cabot (a. D. 1 831) been written in a concifer and clearer ftyle, with lefs of petulance and hypercriticifm, the probabilities are that this attempt would never have been made. His work is full of hiftoric refearch, and has done good fervice ; the writer has drawn largely from his materials, and defires to ac- knowledge the obligation. Differing widely from him on fome points, it is but right to add that the author's conclu- fions have been mainly arrived at through evidence which was not known to be in exift- ence thirty years fince. This additional evidence created a defire to clear the character of a fellow-citizen, and to place him in his proper pofition before the world. For that Cabot was really a great man, few or none who read thefe pages will dif^ ute. ^i li Nor does his greatnefs arife from the mere accident of difcovery. What he found he fought for, or, at all events, its equivalent; whilft his whole life manifefts a perfiftent, energetic determination to attain a given ob- ject; combined with a capacious power of in- telle(5t, which enabled him to grafp, determine, explain, and apply problems in fcience that his contemporaries underftood not. In him was the proverb verified : " Seeft thou a man diligent in bufinefs ? he fhall ftand before kings ; he fhall not fland before mean men." The haughty grandees of Spain owned him as their peer, whilfl the nobleft blood of England held office under him. The man who could not only come out un- fcathed from the hotbed of tyranny, licentious cruelty, and debafing fuperflition which Spain and the Spanifh pofTefTions in America openly difplayed in that age, but could pen thofe prudent, wife, and pious inflruftions which he gave to the men whom he feleded and em- ployed, mufl ever be entitled to the epithet of a great man. What he did for his country, its commerce • ; ! and its fhipping, the following pages will in Tome meafure indicate. Though his duft lies in an unknown and unhonoured grave, and his ftatue graces neither palace nor city, if this work fhould clear for him a niche in the memory of his countrymen, it will be by them fpeedily filled, for "A good man's deeds are his beft monument;" And Sebaftian Cabot will henceforth have a home in every Englifh heart, as well as in that of the great nation who dwell in the land which he firft difcovered, and which ought at this day, inftead of America, to be called Cabotia. m I ! CONTENTS. Chapter I, HE Fifteenth Century a time of awakening and difcovery. Printing acceflbry to, and a quickener of, Maritime energy. Firft be- ginning of the Oriental trade, until its ab- forption by the ''/enetians .... page i Chapter If. Venetian policy ; growth in riches ; caufes of her decay ; Reputed difcovery of Brazil in a.d. 1460, by a citizen of Nuremberg. Columbus. John Cabot's advent in Eng- land ; fettlement at Briftol ; probable fite of his home; poffibility of his having been an Englifhman ; acquires his citizendiip in Venice in a.d. 1476; Sebaltian born in Briftol about 1472, a.d. Henry VII.'s firft Charter to the family ^^ Chapter HI. Hypothetical voyage of the Cabots, in 1474, a.d., pre- vious to the Charter of Henry ; fupported by Sebaftian j Cabot's Map, publifhed 1 544, now in Paris : reafons which ftrengthen this view. State of England, and of Briftol, at the period of the Charter .... 27 III'. : Chapter IV. Claims of John, and of Sebaftian, feverally flated, as to the honour of being the firft difcoverers. Sebaftian's por- trait; arguments therefrom; his map; reafons bafed thereon. Hiftoric evidence and opinions. Additional reafons given in favour of a previous voyage. The land firft difcovcred, Nova Scotia, and not Newfoundland. The Ifle of St. John, Prince Edward's Ifland. The voyage of 1497, ex- plored the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the river beyond Quebec ; Continent difcovered fourteen months before Columbus. Return of the expedition. . . 44 Chapter V. Was John Cabot knighted? his death. Sebaftian in fole command of the expedition under the Charter of 1498. This Charter altogether mifunderftood ; is a rider on the previous one, allowing colonization, and encouraging trade ; annuls no previous privilege; proofs; route now taken by Iceland ; lands the emigrants ; fails north, enters and par- tially explores Hudfon's Bay, gets among the ice, crew terrified ; returns to Baccalaos, defcribes natives, huge filh, large bears, &c. &c. Corroborative teftimony; coafts fouthwards, to Florida and home. ... 66 Contents, Xlll Chapter VI. Services declined by Henry ; traditionary ftatements of intermediate employment. Cabot invited into Spain ; In- terlude of the four elements; Cabot returns in difguft to England; Expedition of Henry VIU. in 15 17 a.d., reaches 6-]^^ N.L., further progrefs arrefted by cowardice of Admiral Pert. R. Thorn, of Briftol, his tellimony ; error of Dr. Robertfon 3. Chapter V\\. The Emperor Charles V. appoints Cabot his Pilot- major in 1 5 18 A.D. Takes him with him from England to fill the office in 1520 a.d. Cabot's interview with Contarini; his duplicity; controverfy between Spain and Portugal refpefting the Moluccas ; board of geographers ; Cabot their prefident ; decifion given in favour of Spain. Expedition to explore the South-weft ; Cabot in command ; mutiny; he feizes the ringleaders, puts them on fhore, enters, and explores the Rio de la Plata; Garcia's falfe accufation adopted by Southey ; explanation; Cabot's juf- tification by the Emperor . . . ^ ,^5 Chapter VIIL Continues his refearches on the La Plata; builds forts; afcends the Paraguay; conquers the attacking Guarani In- dians; Garcia's arrival ; its confequences; Cabot wins the %. XIV Contents. i m love of the natives; cultivates the foil; ftudies the natural hiftory of the country; makes laws; adminirters jurtice; confolidates his power. Treachery of Garcia's men ; na- tives carry Fort San Spiritus and dellroy them and that portion of Cabot's men who were there. Endeavour of the Indians to furprife Cabot ; he beats them off. Embarks for Spain ; refumes his high port and its emoluments for eighteen years. Returns to his native place, Briftol, and fettles there ; probable reafons why. Spanifh AmbafTador demands his return of King Edward and his council; Cabot's interview and reply. Spain ftrikes off his penf'on ; King Edward grants him one . . . . 126 !,!! 1 1 Chapter IX. Cabot's office; he explains the variation of the Compafg to the King; State of Trade in England; depreffion thereof, caufed by the monopoly of the Stilliard merchants. The London merchants confult Cabot; his advice followed ; is made Governor of the Merchant Adventurers' Company for life ; frequent interviews with the King ; breaks the foreign monopoly ; is liberally rewarded by the grateful monarch; builds the fhips for the new expedition at Brillol ; (heaths them with lead plates ; firll introdudion of this fyflem into England ; Sir Hugh Willoughby chofen for the command ; Cabot's wife failing and bufinefs in- llru6lions. . .... 146 i (I ! 1:1' Chapter X. The Expedition fails for the north-call; Chancellor's fuccefs; Willoughby's difaftrous fate; other expeditions planned; high perfonages under Cabot in the company; Chancellor's wreck and death; Mufcovite AmbafTador favcd ; his entry into London; Cabot's opinion of liars; his bufinefs orders to the agents; fucccfsful management of the Company ; large increafe of trade. Other expe- ditions. The old man jubilant, gives large alms to the poor that they may pray for the failors ; his pious com- mendations of them to God. Dark days under Mary ; Philip of Spain lands ; Cabot lofes half his penfion ; gets aqueftionable partner in his office; antecedents of Wor- thington; Cabot's maps and charts; Hakluyt not able to get a fight of them; miffing ever fince ; are they in Spain now ? Death-bed ; fays he has infallible method of dif- covering the longitude. Is it the Celeilial ? Summary of his life and character .^ J' I l:|l li| iji i I I 11 E ill h >. h) n. m 4' K » y^xiY/e y/t-co /raff re- ftr /e-n^-e/.- LIFE OF SEBASTIAN CABOT. CHAPTER I. The Fifteenth Century a time of aivakening and difovery. Printing accejfory to, and a quickener of. Maritime energy. Firji beginning of the Oriental trade, until its abforption ly the Venetians. ^g^jHE clofing decades of the fifteenth century form one of the turning points of the world's hiftory. Darknefs had covered the earth, and thick darknefs had mantled around its people ; but no v it began to feel the folid land ; to emerge from the mire of ignorance and fu- perftition in which it had long been floundering, and to difcern, though as yet but dimly, in the grey dawning light, the mifty path of its future travel. B Life of Printing, iStli Cen- tury. That mighty difcovery, printing, was like a new creation, and God's fiat, " Light BE !" was as potent in the world of intelleel as it erft was in the world of matter. The buried treafure of the ancients was now exhumed ; the garnered ftore of the gathered wifdom of the bygone ages, hitherto inaccefTible, was unlocked, and the living feed, fcattered over the globe, gladdened its inha- bitants, enlarging and enriching their minds, and was hailed with rapture by all who valued learning. The early printers were either fcholars them- felvCvS, or they kept learned men in their em- ployment to revife and corred each fheet as it came from the prefs. Hence, books were at firft luxuries in which only popes, emperors, and kings could in- dulge. The firft objedl of the printers was rather to difFufe the accumulated learning of the part, than to difcover and develope new mines of intelled in the living age ; earneftly they fet themfelves to the tafk of refcuing the fcattered manufcripts of the orators, hiftorians, poets and philofophers of Greece and Rome from oblivion ; and foon placed thefe beyond the rifle of extini^ion from negled or ignorant careJeffnefs. As foon as the princes and public libraries, &;c., were fupplied, the craving defires of men of letters, but of limited means, elicited cheaper editions, which reduced at once the coftly and cumbrous folio to the compa(5l neat o6ta.vo or duodecimo. Very foon the printer found there was a market for his wares in the Univerfities, large towns, and amongft at leaft a portion of the country gentry and clergy, who conftantly de- manded cheaper editions of the early clafTics. This demand opened, widened, and deepened the fountains of literature. Scholarly printers, like Aldus, no longer waited for the approving nod of pope, emperor, or cardinal, ere they began to print ; and with a regular and increafing demand, fervile dependence on great patrons died out. Brought now into collifion with the mighty dead, the living intelled hitherto " cabined, cribbed, confined," began to germinate ; Great mand hooks. clc- for If kl m Reformation. Life of thoughts, vague and undefined, which had been floating about in their own minds, fludents found had prefented themfclves, perhaps in a difl^erent phafe, to others ; or the ftudy of books, gave to them the proof that had been wanting in their own experience, and forthwith, as Minerva fprung ready armed from the head of Jove, the theorem was complete and they rufhed into print. Then daring, pradlical men arofe, who reduced the theory to pradlice, and amid ft a multitude, doubtlefs, of ftillborn failures, the world was conftantly aroufed by the tidings of fome new and brilliant fuccefs. Coincident with the difcovery of the new art, and running parallel with its progrefs, if not heading and leading it, came the dodlrines of the Reformation, which proclaimed the Bible as the all-fufficient and only infallible teacher of man. This, meeting a felt want, and promifing to fill an aching, empty void in the human heart, at once created a clamorous demand for the word of God. The Dame Partingtons of the day ftrove in '> I I vain to ftem the tide; buying up the early tomes and burning them, they unwittingly ad- vertifed and found capital for new and more correc5l editions, fo that in feventy-four years, from A.D. 1526 to A.D. 1600, we had in Eng- land alone 326 editions of the Bible, or parts of the Bible, printed, and thefe were not a tithe of the whole, for the prefles of Europe were teeming with the fcriptures. Pnnting had no inconliderable influence on the pioneers of geographical difcovery. They found that Diodorus Siculus defcribed certain Carthaginian failors who had voyaged through the pillars of Hercules into the At- lantic Ocean, and there difcovered a country which furniflied all the neceflaries and con- veniences of life. That the Phosnicians, Greeks and Satafpes the Perfian, had coafted Africa, whilft Par- menides had, ages on ages before, divided the earth into zones. That Ptolemy, in the fecond century, had applied geometrical principles to the conftruc- tion of maps, the diflxTent projedlions of the fphere, and had alfo diftributed the places of Bible, num- bers printed in England. Geographical difcovery fti- mulated. Ptolemy. ill I! 5 !■ ,1 '! Early terrors of Naviga- tion. Iceland. Life of the earth according to their feveral latitudes and longitudes. Well fatistied that the earth was a fphere, they fought a fliort cut to Cathay, or the Eaft Indies, undeterred though not unappalled, by the real or imaginary dangers which they fup- pofed to be in the way; for the early geo- graphers had pidlured the Occident as the home of demons of horrid form, and their maps briftled with figures which, in that fuper- ftitious age, were enough to terrify all but a few true-hearted noble minds. Thefe, rifing themfelves above the fear of fpiritual hobgoblins, had not only to calm the terrors of their followers and encourage the timid, but alfo to devife plans for overcoming the real phyfical dangers which befet their un- known pathway. Iceland (then fpelt Ifland) had been known and was a place of trade for Briftol merchants. Columbus vifited it and failed into a high northern latitude ere he fought employment with Spain ; but, between it and the long- fought defired haven, floated huge fields or towering bergs of ice, which deterred the timid Sebajiian Cabot, or hindered the ambitious mariner, who fought to get to the eaft by failing due weft. The central zone was equally well guarded by what is now known as the Sarguflum Sea, a vaft belt of floating feaweed which covers an extent of ocean equal in fize to the Mediter- ranean Sea. The fouth-weft and north-weft feemed alone to aflx>rd a folution of the difficulty, and to offer a fhorter road to the attainment of their objed. Let us briefly confider how the oriental trade had grown and been carried on. From before the eighth century Conftanti- nople had drawn rich ftores from the Indies, and that metropolis of the eaftern empire had, notwithftanding the difadvantages attendant on a long and perilous overland route for this traflic, acquired and retained the pofition of the opulent mart for the produce of Cathay. Antioch and Tyre, whofe ftiips coafted along the fhores of the Perfian Gulf and the Red Sea, fuccefsfully competed for their fhare in the riches of the Orient. When the Croifaders, on their way to the Holy Land, viewed the magnificence and fplen- Conft.in- tinople, feat of the Indian trade. iil 8 !ti Venice and Genoa take to the trade. Egyptian tri- bute. Life of dour which Conftantinople and the other cities that they captured had attained through being the channels for the trade, they fet to work to learn the arts and to fathom the policy of their inhabitants : they traced the fources of their wealth, and as long as they held any poft in the country they encouraged this long-efta- blifhed commerce. Keen-fighted pradical men, fuch as the Venetians and Genoefe traders and merchants were, whofe country had been benefited and their large wealth amafTed by thefe holy wars, gradually crept into, and ere long engrofTed nearly the whole of this Indian trade. Precious commodities of fmall bulk, as cloves, nutmegs, pearls and diamonds, were long carried via the Perfian Gulf, Buflbra and Bagdad, to fome port on the Mediterranean ; whilft more bulky goods came by the Red Sea and through Alexandria. Conftant robberies by the land route and a heavy tribute by the fea, levied in Egypt, kept the prices fo high, that it is really wonderful how buyers could be found ; neverthelefs the demand fteadily increafed. "! Sebajlian Cabot. The wily Mohammedans took care to keep the producer and confumer afunder; no Chrif- tian was allowed to pafs through their countries to trade dired with the Indies ; (by the general term Indies, will be underftood all the iflands and countries eaft of the Perfian Gulf). By-and-by came the dreadful incurfions of the Tartars, under " Jenghis Khan," who broke up the power of the Mohammedans. Through the thu: Scattered tribes an adven- turous brave Venetian, Marco Paulo by name, in the thirteenth century reached Bengal, Gu- zerat, China and Pekin ; vifited Java, Ceylon, and Malabar ; to all of which he gave the names they now bear ; he mentions alfo, though he did not vifit it, the Ifle of Zipangri, moft probably a part of Japan. The difcovery of thefe immenfe regions, hitherto unvifited, of mythical extent, the fabulous accounts of their wealth, furnifhed room for fpeculation and ftimulated adventure. The trade fteadily increafed for two cen- turies. Then came the irruption of the Sara- cens, and, finally, their capture of Conftanti- nople in 1453 a.d., which at once threw the Tartar incur- fions. Marco Paulo's tra- vels. He re- turned, A. \>. 1 29 1, im- menfely rich. See Ifaacfon's " Saturni Ephemerides," A. D. 1633. Saracens take Conftanti- nople. I il 1! TO Genoa crip- pled, A. D. H53- '! Si Life of Sebajiian Cabot, whole trade into the hands of the Venetians, through the forefight with which they had fecured a road by a treaty with Egypt in 1425, A.D. Their great rivals, the Genoefe, had culti- vated the trade with Greece and Conftantinople, getting their fupplies thence, and having large eftabliihments there ; but they were now driven from thefe pofleffions by the Turks, and fo thoroughly humbled that they could no longer contend with the Queen of the Adriatic. i 1 1 CHAPTER II. Venetian policy; growth in riches; caiifes of her decay. Reputed difcovery of Brazil in a.m. 1460, by a citizen of Nuremberg. Columbus. John Cabot's advent in England; fettlement at Brijlol; probable fite of his h^me; poffibility of his having been an Englijhman ; acquires his citizen JInp in Venice in a.d. 1476,- Sebajlian born in Brijlol about 1472, a.d. Henry VII.'s frjl Charter to the family. fe;==si' III ill 11 ' t'illi 26 None other to trade thi- ther on pain of forfeiture of fliips and goods. The Cabots find the money. Li/e of Sebajlian Cabot. bring with them from, the places fo newly found. " And moreover we have given and granted to them and their heirs and deputies that all the firm land, iflands, villages, towns, &c. they fhall chance to find, may not, without licenfe of the faid John Cabot and his fons, be fo frequented and vifited, under pain of lofing their fhips and all the goods of them who fhall prefume to fail to the places fo found. " Willing, and commanding ftri(5lly all and fingular our fubjedts, as well on land as on fea, to give good aflilirince to the faid John and his fons and deputies, and that as well in arming and furnifhing their fhips and veflels as in provifion of food and buying vidluals for their money, and all other things by them to be provided neceffary for the faid navigation, they do give them all their favours and afTifl- ance. " Witnefs myfelf at Weftminfler, 5th March, in the eleventh year of our reign, or T495 a.d." As the civil year began on March 25th this would be really in the year 1496 a.d., one year only before the expedition failed. CHAPTER III. Hypothetical voytjge of the Cabot s^ in 1474 a. d, previous to the Charter of Henry ; fuppurtedby Sebajiian Cabot* s Map, publijhed 1544, now in Paris: reafons which Jirengthen this viexo. State of England, and of Brijiol, at the period of the Charter. ^t ifP=^ . ^^HE foregoing is the original charter -^-^ cf Henry VII., which is generally fuppofed to have preceded the dif- covery. A contrary theory has been broached, and is upheld by Harris, Pin- kerton, Barrow, and others ; viz., that the Cabots had, from their own private refources, failed weftward, and, difcovering the land, re- turned haftily, and, by their reprefentations in- duced the king to grant them this patent. The two firft named write as follows : — " But the year before that patent was granted, viz., in 1494, John Cabot, with his fon Sebaf- tian, had failed from Briftol upon difcovery, Theory of an earlier voyage. Harris, vol.ii. p. 190, ed. 1744. \Jr i i : i ' ,r.\ '. 'i » < .1 111,: !;!!| I!? ' '" 111 ( III " I:.l|| i! I ri! 28 Barrow, " Chronolo- gical Hiftory of Voyages," p. 32. See Map. Life of and had adually feeii the continent of New- foundland, to which they gave the name of * Prima Vifta,' or firft feen. And on the 24th of June in the fame year, he went on fhore on an ifland, which, becaufe it was difcovered on that day, he called * St. John's ;' and of this ifland he reported very truly that the foil was barren, that it yielded little, and that the people wear bearfkin clothes and were armed with bows, arrows, pikes, darts, wooden clubs, and flings; but that the coaft abounded with fifli, and upon this report of his, the before-men- tioned patent of March 5, 1496, was granted." Herein is the record of all the voyages mud- dled up in one ftatement. Barrow fays, " there is no poflible way of reconciling the various accounts but by fup- pofing John Cabot to have made one voyage, at leafl:, previous to the date of the patent, and fome time between that and the date of the return of Columbus, either in 1494 or 1495." Now, the above fl:atements agree entirely with the infcription on the map of Seb. Cabot in the " Bibliotheque Imperial " of Paris, date Sebajlian Cabot. 1544, publiHied during Cabot's lifetime, which is as follows : — " Terram hanc olim nobis claufam aperuit Johannes Cabotus Venetus, nee non Sebailianus Cabotus ejus filius anno ab orbe redempto, 1494, die vero 24 Junii hora 5, fub dilucolo qtiam terram primum vifam appellarunt et in- fulam quandam ei oppofitam Infulam divi Joannis nominarunt quippe quas folemni die fefto divi Joannis aperte fuit." This infcription cannot be a miftake in the date, for it is alike in both the Spanifh and the Latin infcriptions, and it is abundantly evident that the publifher of the map confidered and believed it to be perfedly true that Cabot did make this voyage in 1494. Kochhaf alfo notes this date in his book as having been (^tn by him on a map of Cabot at Oxford. By the courtefy of the officials connected with the above admirable library, and the kindnefs of R. H. Major, Efq., F.S.A., of the map depart- ment of the Britifh Mufeum, we are enabled to give a fac firnile of this precious document; " The only engraven copy," fays Monfieur Tafchereau, " which is known of the map of 29 Only en- graven map ot Cabot's in cxiitence at ''Bibliothcquf Imperial," I'atis. Kochhaf's teltimony. I i I m 1! I ill I III I ■ ..^i,j iiujl - ! :i I I!'! jll ^m 30 Cape Rrcton probably dil- covered fitft, and that in 1494. Life of Sebaftian Cabot." If, therefore, this is to be depended on, we muft antedate the difcovery by three years, and fuppofe, which is probable enough, that immediately on Columbus' return, in March, 1493, as foon as the news fpread, it fired the ambition of the Cabots, and getting ready during the enfuing winter for an adven- turous voyage, they ftarted in the early fummer of 1494, and difcovered the land at Cape Bre- ton on June 24, in that year. The above view is perfedtly confiftent with Sebaftian's defcription to Ramufio's friend; nor is it at all at variance with the wording of the firft charter, but rather the contrary. " They were to ' take five fhips, to fee up our banner and enfigns in every village, town, caftle, ifle, or mainland of them newly found.' * * * to trade and pay a fifth of the profits to the king." For an uncertain voyage of difcovery, five {hips ',/ould be needlefs : for trading purpofes with a newly-difcovered region as a mutual defence, and a politic difplay of power before the heathen and infidels we can underftand it. Befides, in the Venetian envoy's letter, written M ■!' Sehajlian Cabot, after the return from the firft voyage under the charter, he is fpoken of as ** a man who has good (kill in difcovering new iflands ;" a retrofpedive view, which points back to fome difcovery previous to the one juft then made. Again, in the " Spanifh State Papers,^' vol. i. p. 177, we have corroborative teftimony which carries us back adluaily beyond the date of Columbus. Don Pedro de Ayala, a Spanifh envoy in England, in a letter to his fovereigns Ferdinand and Ifabella, dated July it^^ 1498, fays " That the people of Briftol fent out every year two or three or four light fhips, caravelas, in fearch of the ifland of Brazil and the feven cities, according to the fancy of that Italian Cabot, and that they have done for the laft feven years." Whether the father or the fon was the moving fpirit of the enterprife, muft be left largely to conjedure ; one thing feems to be quite certain, Lewis and Sandlus, who are named in the patent, did not fail in the ihip ; it was either John and Sebaftian, or Sebaftian alone, to whom the honour of the difcovery belongs. 31 " Venetian Calendar." Pedro de Ay- al.i, the Sp.i nilh envoy, fays Briftol and Cabot fent out (hips in fearch as early as 149 1, one year before Columbus, vide "Spanirti State Papers," vol. 1. p. 177 m< I M. 'liiiiii :i I IN ( . ' ■ : : III' I II f! I • t ortin's Eraf- J mus Capello's'- Ita- lian Relation of the Ifland of England," p. 22. " The dirt, of even the better clafs houfes, is abominable; the floors are moftly of clay, ftrewed with rufhes ; frefh rufhes are periodi- cally Jaid over them, but the old ones remain as a foundation for perhaps twenty years toge- ther, amidft which lies, unmolefted, an ancient colledlion of beer, greafe, fragments, bones, fpittle, excrements of dogs and cats, and every- thing nafty !" What wonder that in towns crowded with fuch homes, peftilence was fo frequent and fo deadly. The fame keen obferver fays alfo : — " It would contribute more to the health of the people if they ate and drank lefs, and lived more on frefh meat than fait." The city feafts were as magnificent in the days of Henry VII. as they are now, and quite as ftupid. Francefco Capello, the Venetian ambafTador here in 1502, fays in his relation of England : " At the Lord Mayor's banquet in the Guildhall a thoufand people were feated at table, and the dinner lafted four hours ! " At the fheriffs' dinner, he fpeaks alfo of the infinite profufion of vidluals, and notices " how pundilioufly they fat in their order, and the extraordinary filence of every one.'' " They think no greater honour can be con- ferred or received, than to invite others to eat with them ; they would fooner fpend five or fix ducats to provide an entertainment for a perfon, than a groat to aflift him in diftrefs." " They have alfo," fays he, " the incredible courtefy of remaining with their heads un- covered, with an admirable grace, whilft they talk to each other." Before leaving this part of our fubje(5t we will give a bill of the feaft of one of the arch- bifliops of the land, originally publifhed in a memoir of the Rev. Dr. Standfaft, chaplain to Charles I. and redor of Chriftchurch in the city of Briftol. The original account was then in the Tower of London. " George Nevill, brother to the great Earl of Warwick, on his inftalment into his arch- biftioprick of York in the year 1470, made a feaft for the nobility; gentry and clergy, where he fpent : — 300 qrs. of Wheat. 300 ton of Ale. 104 ton of Wine. I pipe fpiced Wine. Ibid. p. 22. Briftol " Chro- nicle," Aug. 9, 1760. I N'liiilj I lifllllM I ,1^'ii %mi ml i ,' I: m ■H f! 80 fat Oxen. 6 wild Bulls. 300 Pigs. 1004 Wethers. 300 Hogs. 300 Calves. 3000 Geefe. 3000 Capons. 100 Peacocks. 200 Cranes. 200 Kids. 2000 Chicken. 4000 Pigeons. 4000 Rabbits. 204 Bitterns. 4000 Ducks. 400 Hernfies. 200 Pheafants. 500 Partridges, 400 Woodcocks. 4400 Plovers. 100 Curlews. 100 Quails. 1000 Egrets. 1200 Rees.' 4000 Bucks, Does, and Roebucks, 155 Hot Venifon pafties. 1000 difhes of jellies. 4000 Cold Venifon pafties. 2000 Hot Cuftards. 4000 Cold do. 400 Tarts. 300 Pike. 300 Bream, 8 Seals. 4 Porpuifes. At this feaft the Earl of Warwick was fteward ; the Earl of Bedford, treafurer ; the Lord Haftings, comptroller; with many noble officers, fervitors. ^ Rees. Sic. orig. ^ is this the female of the Ruff, Ruffs and Reeves? " Her olives with her wyn trees Thefe foxes brent with her rees." —Cur/on Mutidie MSS. Trin. Coll. Camb. f. 45. 1 li' Sebajiian Cabot, There were looo cooks. 62 kitcheners. 515 fcullions." Whether feafting, fuch as above defcribed, and a tafte for fuch undluous delicacies as "feals and porpufTes" be a virtue or not, moft people will allow patriotifm to be an undoubted one. Our national pride is not a thing of yefterday. Erafmus fays : " Above all things, take care not to cenfure or defpife any individual things in the country ; the natives are very patriotic, and not without reafon." Grocyne, a Briftol man, was one of Erafmus' moft intimate friends in this country, and was the firft public profeflbr of the Greek tongue at Oxon when the great foreigner was there, who in his epiftles owns him " pro patrono fuo et preceptore." We may be pretty well fure that the Briftol man then, even as now, would ftand up for his country, and, " not without reafon." Capello alfo fays : " They think there are no other men but themfelves, and no other world but England ; and whenever they fee a 37 Erafmus' Letter, 1527. Grocyne of Briftol. Firft public Greek Profeflbr at Oxford. Italian relation. "■at iiil'i '0. 111 I !l"> ii III 38 Stow's " Sur- vey of Lon- don," ed. 1633, p. 84. Bacon, p. 242. nth Henry VII. cap. 8. handfome foreigner, they fay he looks like an Englifhman." Good, quaint old John Stow, the tailor, who, thank God, forfook his profefTion and turned antiquary — (though he had, it is faid, in con- fequence, to ftand and beg at the church doors for his living) fays : — *' On feftival days and the vigils of feftival days, after the fun-fetting, there were generally made bonfires in the ftreets, every man be- ftowing wood and labour towards them ; the wealthier, before their doors, near to thefe fires, would fet out tables with fweet bread and good drink plentifully; whereto they would invite their neighbours and pafTengers alfo, to fit and be merry with them in great familiarity, praifing God for the benefits beftowed on them." Henry VII. exhibits himfelf repeatedly in the charadler of a royal fwindler, on the tefti- mony of Lord Bacon ; and certainly fome very queer laws were in force. One, during his reign, enaded that " Any one lending money for a time and taking any- thing for the faid loan fhould lofe one half of the money he had lent." \ Another forbad coin, bullion or jewels, to be carried out of the realm above a certain fum, and our good friend Erafmus himfelf, with his hard-earned and well-won ^^20 in gold, was flopped at Dover and all his money but the allowed fum of fix angels, was taken from him. It is therefore evident that the capital of the country was hoarded. " The king died worth ;/^ 1,800,000, an enormous fum in thofe days." Capello fays again, " The vifible wealth of the people was the admiration of foreigners (it had migrated from Venice by this time, 1502); the fmall innkeepers ferved you on filver difhes, with filver tankards, and each tavern, however humble, would contain ^^ 100 worth of filver plate." In Briftol, vagrants were fet to work in pri- fon ; thieves were profecuted without mercy ; yet never was murder and robbery fo rife be- fore or fince. The cucking-fl:ool in the ditch under the cafl:le walls was ufed for fraudulent brewers, and difhoneft bakers were dragged through the town on a fledge (with their falfe fcales, 39 4th Henry vn cap. 23. Laycey's Jor- !in, p. 13. Bacon, and " Excerpta Hiftorica." Italian relation pp. 29, 42. Seyer's " Hh- \ tory of Briftol.* Briftol Charter, Edward III. 24th April, 1347- !!! i Ml.iiilll'l Nirli! l|:iii \'ii'' It.- ' IN'' 40 Briftol: its Woods, River, Commerce, Archery Ground. Life of &c., fiifpended over their heads), to be pelted as in the pillory. The old city was mainly confined to the area between the two rivers, and Temple, Tho- mas, and RedcIifF, which three pariflies were bounded by a wall and moat that ran from St. John's Lane, RedcIifF Hill, through Portwall Lane and Temple Gate to the Tower Harritz. All round the city the little hills covered with woods came clofe to its gates ; wild deer, herded in Clifton Wood, whilft the low marfhy lands fkirting the river were frequented by wild fowl. The tidal waters, innocent of fewage, abounded in fifh, amongft which the (ilvery falmon, rolling porpoife, and royal flurgeon, held highefl rank. " Great fhippes in full fail " were borne on the tide right up into the city, and no doubt many a bale of rich goods that never paid duty to the king went in by night at the quaint mullioned windows of the ancient houfes that overhung the old bridge. From King Street to the Grove was a low flat marfh, where flood the archery butts, to which the citizens and their prentices reforted for practice, alfo for running the quintain, fword and buckler play, and bowls. The graver fort promenaded under the trees of College Green, which, reaching to the Car- melite Friary on St. Auguftine's Back (Colfton Hall), had few buildings thereon fave the mo- naftery, and the Hofpital of the Gaunts : there they liftened to the fermon preached from the great ftone pulpit under the trees in the green, or watched the progrefs the mafons made in building the church of St. Auguftine. In 1484 a vaft flood inundated the city and drowned over 200 men, women and children. Great nobles with their feudal retainers or friendly neighbours fought pitched battles with each other, carelefs as to what the king thought or faid. One fuch was fought at this period at Nibley Green, where Lord Lifle was flain by Thomas Marquis of Berkeley , Earl Marfhal of England, whofe next brother, Maurice, afterwards fifth earl, had married a daughter of a late mayor of Briftol ; and fo the Briftol men went out and took part in the fight. College Green, Great flood, Oa. 15th 1484. Battle of Nib- ley Green. Maurice, Lord Berkeley, marries Philip Mead's daugh- ter, who had great property at Thornbury. m m fhv ' Mil m Robert Ricart's Calendars. He was town clerk up to 1503. Wm. Herbert, A.D. 1527, afterwards Earl of Pembroke. The corporation, as a body, knew how to enjoy themfelves : juft peep into the Compter or Tolzey, a kind of open colonnade, called alfo the Counter, oppofite the High Crofs (or rather, exacftly oppofite the prefent Council Houfe), where the mayor and fherifF fit daily from eight till eleven to hear complaints be- tween parties. But now it is after dinner, on St. Nicholas' day ; they (the corporation) have dined and are merry, and while they wait for the coming of the bifiiop, with whom they are going to St. Nicholas to hear evenfong, they amufe themfelves by playing at dice, which the worthy town clerk, R. Ricart, who tells the ftory, fays he furnifhed at a penny the raffle. Fancy the learned town clerk handing round the fets of dice, and the worthy mayor telling the (herifF to keep his eye open and fee that the right reverend father does not drop on them and catch them in the adt. Coming from the " wraftling" with the mayor, William Vaughan, who had been fherifF, was killed by a hot-headed Welfh nobleman for fome fancied flight : perchance he thrufl his ; ,»' Sebajiian Cabot. tradefman form betwixt the wind and his no- bility. The principal manufad:ures of the city were foap, cloth and blankets, which latter were in- vented by the Brothers Blanket, living in Tucker Street; where alfo the firft William Canning lived, and laid the foundation of the family's wealth as a cloth manufa6turcr or Toucker. From the parchments recovered from Chat- terton's mother, and alfo from Barrett the hif- torian, by Dr. Glyn, we find that " Tapetes, tefterbed, (beets and feather pillows (mappas, table-cloths), manutergia, napkins," &c. which are fuppofed not to have belonged to perfons of the rank of traders, &c. were not uncommon in Briftol, and were repeatedly left by will. There would feem, therefore, to have been more of cleanlinefs and refinement in Briilol than Erafmus met with in Oxford and London. Thefe are fome few glimpfes into the focial life and times when Cabot's patent was granted and his difcoveries were being made. 43 By Dr. Glyn, of Cambridge. Luxuries of the Briftol merchants. I : 1 i f i '\ I i uiill ht III 1^ H. -;.!1 til m ^ 111 Hi CHAPTER IV. Claims of John, and of Seb(jJ}ian,/everally Jlated,as to the honour of being the firjl difcoverers. Sebajlians por- trait i arguments therefrom: his map; reafons bafed thereon. Hijloric evidence and opinions. Additional reafons given in favour of a previous voyage. The land fir Jl difcovered, Nova Scotia, and not Newfound- land. The Ifie of St. John, Prince Edward^ If and. The voyage of 1497, explored the Gulf of St. Law- rence and the river beyond ^tebea Continent difcovered fourteen months before Columbus. Return of the ex- pedition. OW arifes the queftion, as John Cabot's name ftands firft in this patent of 1495, and that of 1498 recites his name only, does it necef- farily follow that he failed with this f.rft expe- dition, or was he merely the rich mercha adventurer, whofe forefight, money and chi. radler eftablifhed the adventure and won for it the patronage of the mercenary king ? Life of Sebajlian Cabot, 45 Many argue that he ftayed and managed the bufinefs at home ; certainly Sebaftian gives us no hint of his father's prefence in either voyage ; but, modeft, gentle and unafluming, as all his life proves him to have been, fpeaks of the difcovery ever in the firft perfon and in the fingular number. Our Englifh hiftorians feem, in this matter, to have been entirely led aftray by Hakluyt, who, copying from John Stow, perverted the text (thinking it was wrong), and placed the fkill, talents, and feamanrtiip of the fon, to the credit of the father. This feems to have been done fimply be- caufe he found the father's name firft in the patent of 1495, and ftanding alone in the pa- tent of 1497, and without the flighteft defign on the part of the worthy prebendary to injure the fair fame of the fon. And juft as if one fheep jump the hedge the whole flock follow, fo have nearly all our naval hiftorians, copying and enlarging upon Hak- luyt, got further and further from the truth ; the tale of the three black crows has been veri- fieH in this cafe. Hakluyt, vol i iii. p. 9. 4 :l III III II I! it'll ■ ' 'in "0 "I |,l! ^M .1 y ^iii' 46 Stow, 1605, 1631, and Hakluyt, vol. Hi. p. 9. Lf/e of Now look at the two pafTages fide by fide :- Stow, A. D. ed. 1605, pp. 804, alfo edit. 1631, pp. 483, fays : — " This year Se- baflian Gaboto, a Genoas fbn, boin at Briftol, profeff- ing himfelf to be expert in the knowledge of the circuit of the world, and iflands of the fame, as by his charts, and other reafonable de- monftrations he (hewed," &c. &c. Hakluyt, profeffing to copy this, and giving it as his authority, does it thus : — ** In the 1 3 year of King Henry VJI., by means of one John Cabot, a Venetian, which made himfelf very expert, and cunning in knowledge of circuit of the world, and iflands of the fame, as by a fea card, and otherdemonflrations reafon- able he fliewcw," &c. &c. Strange to fay, after making this alteration in the text^ Hakluyt retains the original title of the paflage. "A note of Sebaftian Cabot's firft dif- coverv of part of the Indies, ^aken out of the latter part of Robert Fabyan's Chronicle, not hitherto printed, which is in the cufl:ody of Mr. John Stow, a diligent preferver of antiquities." An unpublifiied treatife of Hakluyt's, dated 1584, has recently been difcovered (fee Wood's Maine Hift, Society, 1868), in which he vehe- Sebaftian Cabot, 47 mently appeals to the Englifh government to engage in colonization, and he more than once affirms that the firft difcovery was made in 1496, and by Sebaftian Cabot. " A great part of the continent as well as of the iflands was firft difcovered for the king of England by Sebaftian Gabote, an Engliftiman, born in Briftowe, fon of John Gabote, in 1496 ; naye, more, Gabote difcovered this large trade of firm lande two yeares before Columbus faw any part of the continent." We do not feek to rob John Cabot of a leaf of his laurels, or detrad: from his fame ; he was the head of the firm, wife and prudent ; and no doubt counfelled his fon and entered (con amore) into his plans. It has never been hinted that all of the fons were engaged in this firft voyage, but the pre- fumption is as likely that they, his partners, would do fo, as that the father, who was now getting into the fere and yellow leaf, would thus encounter dangers enough to frighten the youthful, and daunt the robuft. Sir G. Peckham, indeed, as copied by Hak- luyt, fiys : " In the time of the queen's grand- Maine Hift. Society, 1868. Hakluyt's heretor'ore unpublifhed treatife. John Cabot naw an old man. Sir G. Peck- hann. w^ 'I li> III I ■ rii r " Jl! ;!f ||li 'I, : Mil ',4M , ; III 4 i 1 "" ii 1 J||! Hi 48 Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 165. Venetian Calendars. Aug. 24, 1497. A ijreat dil- coveierof new iflands previous to this. Life of father, Henry VII., of worthy memory, letters patent were, by his majefty, granted to Sir John Cabota, an Italian; to Lewis, Sebaftian, and Sandus, his three fons, to difcover remote and barbarous' heathen countries, which difcovery was afterwards executed to the ufe of the crown of England in the faid king's time by Sebaftian and Sandtus." The earlieft Englifh writers on the fubjedt, as Stow, Willes, Eden, and Sir H. Gilbert, mention Sebaftian as the difcoverer; fo alfo does Sanuto, the Venetian. Thanks to the painftaking and fcholarly refearches of Rawdon Brown, we have now, from the Venetian archives, irrefragable proof that in an expedition from England, under the aufpices of King Henry VII. in the year 1497, the continent was difcovered and taken pofieflion of for England. The firft notice is under date Auguft 24, 1497. " Alfo fome months ago his Majefty Henry VII. fent out a Venetian, who is a very good mariner, and has good Jkill in dif covering new ijlandsy and he has returned fafe, and has found two very large and fertile new iflands ; having likewife difcovered the feven cities, 400 leagues from England, on the weftern paflage. 1 he next fpring his Majefty means to fend him with fifteen or twenty fhips." (P. 260.) The Venetian envoy w^ould clafs the fon as a Venetian. It may mean one or other, or both ; fo that the above is quite as applicable to Sebaftian as to John. Where the kvcn cities, 400 leagues from England, or a little more than half way, could be, unlefs it was in Iceland, we cannot con- jedure. But we have confefledly a harder nut to crack in difcovering the letter of Lorenzo Paf- qualigo to his brother (p. 262, fame vokime), who fays : " The Venetian, our countryman, who went with a fhip ^^rom Briftol in queft of new iflands, is returned, and fays that 700 leagues hence he difcovered land, the territory of the Grand Cham ; he coafted for 300 leagues, and landed ; faw iio human beings, but he has brought hither to the king certain fnares which had been fet to catch game, and a needle for making nets ; he alfo found fome " Venetian Calendar," p. 260, from the " Srorza Archives." Ibid. " Venetian CalcnJar," p. 262, trom "Sanuto Dia- ries," vol. i. P- 573- ^K ! If ) 1 ,1 ^ 1 I ! !i liiil |(|i|l!l I n^ I'll I I il i'l ^iii ■ '■.'■. V I 1 '.,|i si. 5° "Sanuto Dia- ries," cntere.l therein Sept. Iith, 1497, written from London, Aug. 23rd, 1497. Life of felled trees, wherefore he fuppofed there were inhabitants, and returned to his fhip in alarm. " He was three months on the voyage, and on his return he saw two iflands to ftarboard, but would not land, time being precious, as he was fhort of provifions. " He fays that the tides are flack, and do not flow as they do here. The King of Eng- land is much pleafed with this intelligence. " The King has promifed that in the fpring our countryman fhall have ten fhips, armed to his order, and at his requeft has conceded him all the prifoners, except fuch as are confined for high treafon, to man his fleet. " The King has alfo given him money wherewith to amufe himfelf till then, and he is now at Briftol with his wife, who is alfo a Venetian, and with his fons. " His name is Zuan Cabot, and he is flyled the Great Admiral ; vaft honour is paid him ; he dreffes in filk, and thefe Englifh run after him like mad people, fo that he can enlifl as many of them as he pleafes, and a number of our own. " The difcoverer of thefe places planted on K Sebajiian Cabot, his new-found lands a large crofs, with one flag of England and another of St. Mark, by reafon of his being a Venetian, fo that our banner has floated very far afield. 23rd Au- guft, 1497." Now the ^^ amor patria'' is veryfl:rong here. The writer knows John as the head of the family and as his countryman, and enlarges on his honours and fuccefles. It fo happens that we have one little gauge to tefl: the letter by. In the privy purfe ex- penfe of Henry VII. Auguft 10, 1497, is an entry of the fum paid : " To him who found the new ifle, ;£io," — a fum perfectly in keep- ing with the parfimonious charadler of the King, but utterly infuflicient to keep the " Great Admiral, drefled in filk, with his wife and family, till the fleet is ready next year at Briftol." No doubt the wary Venetian A^ould conceal, as Erafmus did, the fmallnefs of the pittance, and leave it to be inferred that one more com- menfurate had been received. If the other particulars of the letter are not therefore more corred than we have proved 51 Nicholas' " Excerpta Hiftorica." Layceys Erafnius. .-,,,, 52 John Cabot and ions. Sebaftian an adlive part- ner. His portrait by Holbein, fee frontif- piece. Purchas' ♦' Pilgrims," vol.iii. p. 807. Life of this portion to be, we may yet conceive that John Cabot took no adive part in the expe- dition, and that the adls and deeds of his fon for the trading firm are here recorded as the adls of John, the known and refpedled head of the faid^rw. At all events, even if John did go, he being at that time, wherever born, a regiftered Ve- netian citizen, he went for England, and his Briftol born fon and partner failed with him, fharing not only the perfonal rifks, but alfo that of property ; and if John Cabot is entitled to honour, the moiety of it muft equitably belong to his fon Sebaftian. Hanging in the Privy Gallery at Whitehall were once two mute evidences, neither of which can be faid to authoritatively decide this queftion. The firft is a portrait of Sebaftian, by Holbein, with this infcription : " Effigies Seb. Caboti, Angli filii Johan. Cabofi, Veneti mihtis aurati, primi inventoris terras novas fub Henrice VII. Anglia Rege." The other, the map of Sebaftian Cabot, cut by Clement Adams, concerning his difcovery of the Weft Indies, in which the infcription ii 111 I till! afcrlbed it to the joint agency of both John and Sebaftian. The picture, of which we give an en- graving, is ftill in exiftence in America ; " the original map, and the chartes and mappes and diicourfes, drawn and written by himfelf, were in the cuftody of the Worfhipful Mafter Wil- liam Worthington," who was, at the clofe of Sebaftian Cabot's life, a (harer in his penfion and office, and who is fuppofed (for a con- fideration) to have given them up to Philip of Spain. We have already feen that in the map of Sebaftian Cabot, publiftied in 1544, moft pro- bably under his immediate fupervifion, in Spain, the difcovery is attributed to both the father and the fon. The brave and chivalrous Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who was the contemporary of Sebaf- tian, fays, in referring to Cabot's original map, " Furthermore, Sebaftian Cabot, by his perfonal experience and travel, hath fet forth and de- fcribed this paftage in his charts, which are yet to be feen in the Queen's Majefty's Privy Gal- lery at Whitehall, &c. &c." Miffing maps fuppofed to have found their way to Spain. Map in this volume. Sir H. Gil- bert on the North-Weft Padjge, A. D. 1576. ■HHHHHI i|l 1^ II m r II j: I- I iJilii m II f ■• 4| I •, ' M 11;:' Portrait of Sebaftian as Worfhipful Governor 01" the Merchant Adventurers' Company. He was alfo the higheft naval officer in Spain, Is faid to have been a knight. More proba- bly John was one of the patrician ar- balaft men appointed to each London galley., the captains of which were alfo always entitled "Ser." See " Venetian Calendar," p. 74. Now for the evidence of the portrait : It was painted by Holbein, at a time when Sebaftian was the Worfhipful Governor of the Merchant Adventurers' Company, and. In his official ca- pacity, had under him the Lord High Admiral, the Lord Steward of the Houfehold, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, and the Lord High Treafurer of England, who were his fubordinate affiftants ; and all belonged to the company. He had alfo for many years held the higheft naval office in Spain ; and whilft there is no record of his having been knighted by an Englifti monarch. It Is quite poffible that he might have been a knight of Spain or of Venice; one had her knights of the golden fleece, the other her knights of the golden ftole. In one of the ftate papers about 1660, he Is referred to as a knight: " Sir Sebaftian Cabot, In the year 1497, employed by Henry VII., &c. &c." On the other hand, Campbell, in his " Lives of the Admirals," and Dr. Henry, in his " Hiftory of Britain," tell us that John Cabot was knighted, but there Is no record of the fad on the rolls. Sebajlian Cabot. One ftrong objec5tion has been made to the knighthood of either of them ; and Biddle warmly contends, that if the infcription meant that the title had been conferred, it would have been Eques, and not Militis. That this objection is not valid, any one who vifits the Temple and looks at the Benchers' coats of arms, will be at once convinced ; the fa(5t being, that when a member of the bar is knighted the term Miles is ufed to this day ; and though Eques is the herald's, Miles is in- variably the legal defignation. To whom, then, does the latter part of the infcription belong ? We believe to the man whom the pidure reprefents ; and now let us turn to the account which he is faid to have given to a ftrange gentleman, who, curious in the art of navigation, called on him when he was living in the city of Seville, and years after- wards retailed the information which Sebaftian Cabot then gave him, to a circle of admiring friends in the villa of the celebrated Italian poet, PVacaftoro, Ramufio, the hiftorian, being prefent; who fays : — " It would be inexcufable in me if I did not SS Biddle's view on this fub- je6t confi- dered. See his " Memoir of Cabot," pp.182, 325. Cabot's ftate- ment to a ftranger at Seville. Fracaftoro the poet. wr u it: IMt ||| ■ 1', > 'it \rk .#1 - ' I SI i iii r n ■ III > m ' ii lit 56 «' Ramufio,' vol. i. fol. 414 D, td. 1554. See " Plata and Fiuiidu." Theftranger's opinion ot Seb. Cabot's abilities. Life of relate a high and admirable difcourfe which, fome/^ze; months ago^ it was my good fortune to hear in company with the excellent architedl, Michael de St. Michael, in the fweet and ro- mantic country feat of Hieronymo Fracaftoro, named Caphi, fituated near Verona, whilft we fat on the top of a hill commanding a view of the whole of the Lago di Garda. * * * * " We found him on our arrival fitting in com- pany with a certain gentleman whofe name, from motives of delicacy and refped, I conceal. He was, however, a profound philofopher and mathematician. ***** At this point, after the ftranger had made a paufe of a few minutes, he turned to us and faid : — " * Do you not know, regarding this projedl of going to India by the north-weft, what was formerly achieved by your fellow-citizen, the Venetian, a moft extraordinary man, and fo deeply converfant in everything connedled with navigation and the fcience of cofmography, that in thefe days he hath not his equal in Spain ; infomuch that for his ability he is preferred above all other pilots that fail to the Weft Indies, who may not pafs thither without his ir Sebajiian Cabot, iicenfe, on which account he is denominated Piloto-mayor, or Grand Pilot?" ** When to this queftion we replied that we knew him not, the ftranger proceeded to tell us that, being fome years ago in the city of Seville, he was defirous to gain an acquaintance with the navigations of the Spaniards, when he learnt that there was in the city a valiant man, a Venetian born, named Sebaftian Cabot, who had the charge of thofe things, being an expert man in the fcience of navigation, and one who could make charts for the fea with his own hand. " Upon this report of him,'' continued he, " I fought his acquaintance and found him a plea- fant and courteous perfon, who loaded me with kindnefs and fbovved me many things ; among the reft a large map of the world, with the navigations of the Portuguefe and Spaniards minutely laid down upon it ; and in exhibiting this to me he informed me that his father, many years ago, having left Venice to dwell in England to follow the trade of merchandifes, had taken him to London while he was yet very young, yet having, neverthelefs, fome knowledge of letters, of humanity, and of the 57 His fkii: in makinj^ charts. Has a pleat- ing, courteous manner. TT" tin • II ilii ' ^' 'li 111 il vLi ill I ill ' ii 1 ' ! I !i« I '11' '■ • I 1 1 ff The fame of Columbus excites in him ,1 fpirit of emulation. Firft idea of a North-Well pafTuge. Life of fpheie. ' And when my father died,' {aid he, *in that time when news was brought that Don Chriftopher Colonus, Genoefe, had difcovered the coafts of Indies, whereof was grer.t talk in all the court of King Henry VII., who then reigned, infomuch that all men, with great ad- miration, affirmed it to be a thing more divine than human, to fail by the Weft into the Eaft, where fpices grow, by a way that was never known before ; by this fame and report there increafed in my heart a great flame of defire to attempt fome notable thing ; and, underftand- ing by the fphere that, if I fhould fail by way of the north-weft I ftiould, by a ftiorter track, come into India, I imparted my ideas to the king, who immediately commanded two cara- vels to be furniftied with all things neceffary for the voyage, being much pleafed therewith. This happened in 1496, in the early part of fummer, and I began to fail towards the north- weft with the idea that the firft land I fhould make would be Cathay, from which I intended afterwards to dired my courfe to the Indies; but after the lapfe of feveral days, having dif- covered it, I found that the coaft ran towards Sebajlian Cabot. the north, to my great difappointment. From thence, {iiIHng along it to afcertain if I could find any gulf to run into, I could difcover none ; and thus, having proceeded as far as 56° under the pole, and feeing that here the coaft trended towards the Eaft, I defpaired of difcovering any paflage, and after this turned back to examine the fame coaft in its diredion towards the equinodtial ; always with the fame obje(5t of finding a pafiage to the Indies, and thus at laft I reached the country at prefent named Florida, where, fince my provifions be- gan to fail me, I took the refolution of return- ing to England. " * On arriving in that country I found great tumults, occafioned by the rifing of the com- mon people and the war in Scotland ; nor was there any more talk of a voyage to thefe parts. " * For this reafon I departed into Spain to their moft Catholic Majefties, Ferdinand and Ifabella ; who having learnt what I had accom- plifhed, received me into their fervice and def- patched me on a voyage of difcovery to the coaft of Brazil, where I found an exceeding deep and mighty river, called at prefent ^ La Plata,' 59 Bjfflcd in his iearch. Sails towards the equinoc- tiil, and thence home. Perkin War- beck's infur- redion. Cabot feeks fervice in Spain. ml' III „ ii::i mii ll! .11 I i I! 1 i II 'II Explores the Rio lie la Plata. Makes many voyages. A thrlce-told tale J fifty years old when written by Ramufio, who only gives it as a general out- line ; iicncc not to be li- terally relied on. Life of into which I failed and explored its courfe into the continent more than fix fcore leagues. * * * " * After this I made many other voyages, which I now pretermit, and, growing old, I give myfelf to reft from fuch labou-s, becaufe there are now many young and vigorous feamen of good experience, by whofe forwardnefs I do rejoice in the fruit of my labours, and reft with the charge of this office, as you fee.' " This vifit muft have been made to Cabot fome ftiort time before his leaving Spain, which was in 1548 ; or, in other words, his narration to the ftranger was betweeiA forty and fifty years after his firft vifit to America, and was evidently a general refume of his three voyages to the north, as well as the one to Brazil. It was not told to Ramufio until fome years afterwards, nor does he write it until a lapfe of months had intervened, and then modeftly fays that he does not, and cannot, pledge him felf to accuracy of detail. " The which difcourfe I have not the courage to write down as fully as I heard it, for that I fiiould need a capacity and a memory which I do not pofiefs ; but 1 will do my beft, notwith- -s e h- Sebafiian Cabot. ftanding, to fketch out briefly, as i*- were, the heads of what I remember of it." We could not, for the above and other rea- fons, expe6t abfolute accuracy as to the date or the latitude-.^ but we do certainly gather from the fimply-told narrative, that Sebaflian con- fidered himfelf the difcoverer, " not thinking to find any other land than that of Cathay." Whether John Cabot failed as Captain-Ge- neral of the expedition, or not, one thing is certain ; Sebaflian, infpired with an honourable emulation of the fame of Columbus, was there, we think, as his father's alter egOy as well as his partner in the adventure. Was it then in 1494 or in 1497 that the good fhip " Matthew," failed out of Avon- mouth, Briftol ? If in only one of thefe years, which was it ? The charters would certainly feem to decide in favour of 1497, if it be one only. But we incline to think, for reafons already given, as well as for thofe which follow, that it is more than probable that a voyage was made in each of the years above mentioned, and that the firft difcovcry was really on the 24th of June, 1494: for if it was on the 24th The gnoJ fhip " Matthew" fnils from Driilol. (III" I i''' I'll ■'I k 'Mi \l I'lll Itl I M i i*l ¥ iif ^!f' ■J! w Mill ,i, B 62 Reafons in favour of there being two voyages, one In 1494 and one in 1497. June, 1497, and the fhip was anything like the time on her paflage home which flie took coming out, there was only three weeks to explore the three hundred leagues of a ftrange coaft, in a fea fubjedl to fogs, and in which they would have to guard againft furprifes of all forts, and literally to feel their way as they furveyed and examined its rugged fhores, hitherto untrodden by any European ; a feat that would be impoflible in thefedaysof fteam, much more in a fmall caravel, of the flow- failing type of that age. Pafqualigo tells us they were three months on the voyage ; yet we find the head of the firm, John, at the court in London, and in pofleflion of the reward on the loth of Auguft, 1497. The land was feen, it is faid, on June 24th ; if they were three months on the voyage, they failed about the loth of May, and were thirty-four days beating out ; take the fame period for their return, including the landing at Briftol and the two days' journey to London, and it will juft give three weeks to do what we venture to fay no hydrographer of the prefent day, with all the knowledge which il Sebajlian Cabot, experience has brought, and all the appliances of fcience, would venture to attempt in lefs than as many months. Let us try and trace the voyage ; the map already referred to fadly difarranges all pre- conceived opinions, but gives us the route, and fome of the anchorages of the expedition. By it v^e learn that the adventurers failtd nearly due weft ; that the firft land made was the Cape North, the northern extremity of Cape Breton, and the ifland oppofite the fame {not lying in front of the land^ hut further on') was Prince Edward's Ifland, which was then named by them and long afterwards known as the Ifle of St. John ; that they fkirted this island, and failed along the fouthern coaft on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, beyond the fite on which Quebec at prefent ftands ; that returning by the northern fhore of the Gulf, " ftill trending eaftward,'^ they coafted to the latitude of ^^f"^ ^"^ then, failing by Newfoundland Ifland, which they took to be and depid as an archipelago, they continued their courfe fouthward to the Chefapeake, and fo home. The " Prima Vifta" then was the moft 63 Firft land ieen, Cape North. Explores the eftuary of the St. Lawrence. Takes New- ibundland Jliand to be •in archipe- lago. si''^ i h I' ' : 'i\ II m 1 'i^ ' a % : 'l 't Mil The voyagers in the " Mat- thew,"_i497, fee no inha- bitants. " Venetian Cilendar," p. 260. The tides. Life of northerly point of Cape Breton, and the point ftruck gave them a view at once of Nova Scotia and of Prince Edward's Ifland. We muft here carefully draw the line be- tween this voyage and that defcribed by Peter Martyr, where the iniiabitants, beails, and fifhes were feen ; thatj we fhall (how, was on the next voyage, in 1498, after this exploring one in 1497, for on this it is exprefsly ftated, by Pafqualigo, that after failing on the coaft for more than 300 leagues, they faw no in- habitant, but finding fome felled trees and a fnare for game, together with a needle for making nets, they retreated haftily to their {hips, and brought the two prizes, the needle and the fnare, home to England, and fhewed them to the king, pafling on their way two iflands to ftarboard, which the Venetian Envoy defcribes as being large and fertile new iflands (does he mean in contradiftindion to thofe found in 1494?), but being prefled for time, and fhort of provifions, they haftened home. They alfo told the king that the tides we'-e flack on that coafl:, and did not flow as they do in England. io S eh aft i an Cabot. The intelligent reader will bear in mind that a large portion of the coafl: thus furveyed was the fouthern part of Labrador, and the rugged fhores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which later writers defcribe as a heap of bare and frightful rocks, a region which even now is, and ever will be, moft fparfely populated. When the voyagers got back into a more genial clime, where they probably faw the large and fertile lands, there were two cogent reafons why they fhould not land, but at once hurry homewards ; had time permitted, doubt- lefs they would here have found inhabitants. Sebaftian Cabot was, as we have fhewn, in the very prime and vigour of manhood in 1494, being then twenty-two years of age. The above reafons, combined with the date on the exifting old map, harmonizing as they do with Cabot's own ftatement as to the lively emulation caufed by the difcoveries of Co- lumbus, fatisfy us that the tirll land {^^x\ was Nova Scotia, in the year of grace 1494; and that Sebaftian was one of its difcoverers, as well as a fharer in the fubfequen: expedition. 65 Cartwright's " Sixteen Years in Labrador." "Gazetteer of the World," article " Labrador," Newfound- land Ifland, I thought then I to be an archipelago. Sebaftian's age in 1494, when the rirll dilcovery was made. bi^ III! r>'r' -l i u' ,1 -f' f; m n lilli I : ! if I'll I III " Venetian Calendar," 12 Ap. 1485. An admiral tur whole board and not his pay he is rd^'on- ru.le. Tilt ialary of the admiral paid as ulcai by the mailers, p. CHAPTER V. fFas John Cahot knighted? his death. Sebajlian in Jole conunand of the expedition under the Charter of 1498. This Charter altogether mifunderjlood; is a rider on the previous one, allowing eolonizationj and encouraging trade i annuls no previous privilege; proofs; route now taken by Iceland; lands the emi- grants ; Jails north, enters and partially explores Hudjoii's Bay, gets among the ice, crezo terrified ; returns to Baccalaos, defcribes natives, huge ff:>, large bears, is'c. Uc Corroborative teflimony ; coajh fouthzuard., to Florida and home. fe^==^. P^HE Flanders' galleys, which failed "^^^ yearly from Venice, calling at England on their way, had a cap- tain general, who was permitted to have an admiral under him ; he, the faid captain, finding him his board. Whether the elder Cabot was one of thefe admirals, or failinn; mailers, is doubtful. Pafqualigo fays the Englifh termed him the id \e )r great admiral on his return from his voyage, and then it mud have been that he was knighted, if ever ; but of this we have ferious doubts, as there is nothing but the vague in- fcription on the portrait to really warrant the fuppofition. True there feems to have been a traditionary rumour to that effe6l, and it is quite pofTible that death may have followed fo clofely on the fpurs of the knight as to leave no trace in hiftory : for Sebaftian tells us that about this time his father died, leaving him (Peter Mar- tyr informs us) very rich, and full of ambi- tion. It cannot be fuppofed that fuch a man would lightly abandon that which had been fo hardly won. He was John Cabot's fon ; he had at lead a fourth fhare in the patent, had been, if nothing more, a partner in all the previous difcoveries ; a large fum had been in- verted by the family, which had brought, as yet, no adequate return ; nothing but an empty title, or right to trade with the new found lands; — his intereft, as well as his en- thufiafm and his ambition, pointed clearly his Was John Cabot an admiral or railing-mafter and pilot, and hence derived a title. Ramufio, " Venice," ed. 1543. ■ ■!<^ fill! \i£h lit (li ! I II 1 i '^- 1! i?* s N-' , i 68 Ramufio, firft vol. ed. 1554. Riddle's " Memoirs of Cabot," Life of adventurous fplrit the road to further explora- tion and colonization. The probabiHty is that the fons continued to trade under the well-known name of their father, rather than change the title of the firm. For though it is probable that John Cabot was alive when the fecond patent was granted, in February, 1498, it is morally certain that he was dead when the expedition failed under the command of Sebaftian. Much ftrefs has been laid on the fadl, that this fecond patent is made out in the name of John Cabot only ; and the omifTion of the names of the three fons is thought to be fomewhat fignificant. The cafe was altered now, fay they ; any feaman could find his way to the new found land ; and the fhrewd avarice of the penurious king would fee how much more it was to his intereft to employ profpec- tive adventurers, rather than thofe whofe charters would trench heavily on the Royal prerogative ; none could, under the firft char- ter, trade without a licenfe from the Cabots, and fo this was made in favour of John, an Se baft tan Cabot, 69 aged, ailing, and, as it proved, a dying man : Sebaftian, by acting under it, waived all per- fonal claim under the firft patent, which, in fadl, became a dead letter. This was entirely of a piece with Henry's general charader, who hefitated not to take any advantage, when he had one in his power; witnefs his detention of Philip, king of Caf- tile, who, driven by ftrefs of weather into Portland Roads, was by him detained, on fpecious pretences, until he had confented to give his fifter to be Queen of England, and to yield up the White Rofe (as Henry's dreaded foe, the Duke of Suffolk, was called by the people) into his hands, to be by him cruelly beheaded. A king fo faithlefs to his peer would not be particular in altering a charter. But we are not fo fure, after all, that the criticifm is in this cafe a juft one : after a care- ful ftudy of its claufes, we deem this charter merely Jupplementary to that of 1495, giving Cabot extra powers to prefs fhips at the fame rate of payment which the king gave for his own fervice, and to enlift men for the venture; *' Venetian Calendar." Mar. 17, 1506. The fecond charter only fupplemen- tary to that of 1495. Jil' 11 > [I A\ 'ill ■' ,iii'' V ^1 I II. ;U ti I' . ;i^ 70 It gives no rclcafe from the tribute. Biddle's «« Cabjt," p. 76. there is in it no bar to his trading or granting licenfes ; no empowering other perfons to trade independently of the Cabot family, and no re- leafe from the one fifth tribute which, under the firft charter, they were to pay to the king out of their profits. Strange to fay, the very exiftence of this patent was unknown until Mr. Biddle, in 1831, by a moft diligent fearch in the Rolls' Office, difcovered, and gave it to the public in his " Memoir of Sebaftian Cabot," a work full of painftaking refearch, and to which we own ourfelves deeply indebted; though in many points we, with added information fince his day, are conftrained to differ from his conclu- fions. The charter runs thus : — " Memorandum quod tertio die Februarii Anno Regni Regis Henrici Septimi XIII ifta Bella delibata fuit Domino CancellarioAngliae apud Weftmonafterium exequenda. '* To the Kinge. " Pleafe it your Highneffe, of your moft noble and haboundant grace, to graunte to John Kaborto, Venecian your gracious Let- tres patents, in due forme, to be made, ac- cordyng to the tenor hereafter enfuying, and he fhall continually pray to God for the pre- fervacion of your mod Noble and Roiall af- tate, long to endure." " HR Rex " To all men to whom theis Prefenteis fhall come fend Grctyng; knowe ye that We of our Grace efpeciall and for dyvcrs caufes us movying We have given and graunten and by theis Prefentis geve and graunte to our wellbeloved John Kabotto Venecian fufficiente Au6lorlte and power that he by him his De- putie or Deputies fufficient may take at his pleafure VI Englifshe fhippes in any Porte or Portes or other place within this our realme of England or obeifance {o that and if the faid fhippes be of the burden of CC tonnes or under with their apparail rcquifitc and neceffarie for the fafe condudl of the faid fhippes and them. convey and lede to the Londe and ijles of late founde by the faid John in oure name and by oure commaundement, paying for theym and Charter. 3J Feby., 1498. Himfelf and deputies, i.e. his Ibiis. .». IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 4 i^o o y <' c. : 1| r h/' 'I I , p •'ill Ntl'. .; *• K I > 1 'ii « 86 Navarette, vol. iii. p. 41. Ibid. p. 86. " As that is the place where the Englllh are known to be exploring." Privy purfe expenles, Hy. VII. Rymcr, vol. xiii. Hojeda, a Spanifti navigator, who failed from Spain May 20, 1499, and was abfent one year, found certain Englifhmen at Caqui- baco; and in his account he mentions this, when giving a defcription of the difcoveries of the Englifli under Henry VII. Was this Cabot ? The probability is great that it was, and that he would take up the thread of the voyage where he dropt it, at Florida, and fo coaft along to the fouthward ; this would fpeedily bring him to the fpot where Hojeda found the Englifh. An idea, founded partly on tradition and from certain payments from the privy purfe, has found fome favour, viz., that he was en- gaged in colonizing Newfoundland, and the neighbourhood. In Nov. 17, 1503, we read: " To one that brought hawkes from the New- founded ifland, £1." " 8 th April. To a Prieft, that goeth to the new ifland, £2, &c. &c." But we rather in- cline to put thefe to the account of the Portu- guefe and the Briftol merchants, whofe expe- dition failed in 1502; and who were doubtlefs the men who brought over the Salvages^ who were exhibited before the king in that year. For if, as fome think, Cabot brought them to England, the novelty would have worn off, and the king have feen them, before three years pafled away. Befides, it was ever againft Cabot's wifh to lure or fteal away from their homes the natives of the lands he vifited. It has been faid again, that now comes a moft difhonourable adl on the part of the king. The Cabots had been to great expenfe, and their difcoveries, though vaft, had been hitherto unremunerative. Yet, declining Sebaftian's fervices in 1499, in 1501 the king granted to certain Portugales, in conjundlion with Richard Warde, Thomas Aftiehurft, and John Thomas, of Briftol, a charter to trade to thefe lands, which has in it a claufe, to the effeft that they fhall not be interfered with by any perfons to whom pre- vious grants have been made ; but in the origi- nal roll the ■pen is drawn through this clau/e, and the charter is limited to lands before un- known to all Chriftians; fo that the king's charader is once more redeemed from dif- honour. Rytner, vol xiii. p. 42. niJdlc, p. 318. ^ »i| ^\ Don Pedro a'Ayola. Navarette, vol. iii.p. 77. LarJner's " Maritime Diicovery."' Lofing fight, for a while, of our great fea- man, let us briefly glance at what his brother navigators have been meanwhile doing. On Cabot's return from his continental dif- covery, in Auguft, 1497, the news would be at once tranfmitted to Spain, by the ambaflador, who was then in England, negotiating the marriage of Katharine of Arragon with Prince Arthur. Columbus, ftirred with honourable rivalry, urgently prefTed for another and immediate expedition; this failing in May, 1498, re- fulted in the difcovery of the continent of South America, by him, fourteen months after the landing of the chartered expedition, under Cabot, in June, 1497, or four years and two months after, Cabot's map fays, the land was by them difcovered. Eight years afterwards, on May 29th, the great Columbus died. Hojeda, whom we have before mentioned, had with him in his employ, in the year 1499, a Florentine, named Americus Vefputius, on his firft voyage, he having come to Spain to learn navigation, it is more than probable that to at Sebajiian Cabot. at Caquibaco, they met the veteran difcoverer of the continent face to face. Vefputius, at the death of Columbus, became firft pilot of Spain, and, though never apparently in command of an expedition, failed feveral times to the newly- found continent, which took its name from him, a mere hireling. Thus, fays the Abbe Raynal, " The mo- ment America became known from the reft of the world, it was diftinguifhed by an ad of injuftice." Vefputius died in 15 12; and Ferdinand of Spain, dreading left the young King Harry VIII. fhould pay no refpedt to the Pope's bull, which gave to him the Weft Indies, was anxious to withdraw from Henry's fervice, and to attach to his own, the greateft navigator of the age, now that Columbus was dead. With this view, Ferdinand wrote to " Lord Uliby, Captain-General of the King of Eng- land, to fend over Sebaftian Cabot, he having heard of his ability as a feaman." Lord Willoughby was at the head of a com- miffion for raifing troops in 15 11. On the 13th of September, 151 2, Cabot 89 Raynal's " Hiftory of the Settle- ment of the Indies." Navarette, vol. iii. p. 305- "Cronologlco Para, la Hif- toria." Ma- drid, 1723 ; ind Herrera, Dec. i.lib. ix. cap xlii. " Uliby Span- ifhfor Willoughby." ! jiii r' >'' .'Si' .'llil i! ii-1 ■::j|I .,i .1, 'Jj 90 " Decades," lib. ii. cap. xii. ; and lib. iii. cap. vi. The hid fccret of nature was this: "Why the feas in thele parts ran with Co fwi ft a current from the eaft to the weft," Sec p. 231. went to Spain, when the king gave him the title of his captain ; retained him in his fer- vice at a liberal falary, directing him to live at the city of Seville, and there to await his orders. Peter Martyr fpeaks of him there as " his very friend, whom I ufe familiarly, and de- light to have him fometimes keep me com- pany in mine own houfe ; for being called out of England, by comm?nd of the Cathol' : King of Caftile, after the death of King Henry VII., he was made one of our council, as touching the affair of the New Indies, looking daily for fhips to be furnifbed for him, to difcover this hid fecret of nature, this voyage is appointed to be begun in March, in the year next following, being the year of Chrift 1 5 16." Unfortunately for Cabot, Fer- dinand died on the 23rd of January, 1516; and the Spanifli people, being more jealous of foreigners than their late king, the expedi- tion was countermanded, and Cabot, feeling flighted, returned to England, and, under the bluff King Hal, found immediate employ- ment. li ! i Sebajlian Cabot. It was probably about this time that the " Interlude of the four Elements," part of which we give, was written. Dr. Dibdin dates it a.d. 1510; we think it bears internal teftimony of having been fomewhat later, and that the Experyens herein depided was none other than Sebaftian Cabot himfelf; if not, who fat for the portrait ? The age was not as yet rich in great Englifhmen ; who were familiar with not only " certeyne poyntes of cofmography," but with pretty nearly the whole circle of natural fcience; and who, in defcribing the fcenes of foreign travel, and the ignorance of the natives, could do fo with the graphic fimplicity of enlightened, kind- hearted eye-witnefles, who felt that ** A greate meritorious dede It were to haue the people inllrudlede." An interlude of the four Elements. " A new interlude and a mery of the nature of the iiij. elementes declarynge many proper poyntes of Phylofophy naturall and of Dyvers Straunge Landys, and of Dyvers Straunge 91 ByRaftel, brother-in- law to Sir Thomas More. Hiftory names no other Eng- lifhman in whom nil this talent and travel meet but Cabot. 111! i:i!i I i! lii; , m H. Figure of the earth, and Tea. Strange and new found lands. Tides. EfFe(5lys and Caufis ; whiche, interlude yf the hole matter be played wyll conteyne the fpace of an hour and a halfe but yf ye lyft ye may leve out muche of the fed mater, as the Mef- fengers parte, and fome of Natury^s parte, and fome of Experyens parte, and yet the matter will depend convenyently and then it wyll not be pafte l/ire quarters of an hour of length.'' Then follows the names of the players, and the qualities of the Elements ; and then — " Of certayne conclufions provynge that the yertJi muft needs be rounde, and that it hangyth in the myddes of the fyrmament, and that it is in cyrcumference above xxj.m. myle. " Of certeyne conclufions provynge that the fee lyeth rounde uppo'n the yerth. " Of certeyne poyntes of cofmography, as how and where the fee coveryth the yerth, and of dyvers ftrange regyons, and landys, and which wey they lye, and of the newe founde landys, and the manner of the people. • # # * # " Of the caufe of the ebbe and flode of the fee. Sebajlian Cabot, 93 " Of the caufe of rayne, fnowe, and hayle. " Of the caufe of wyndys and thondor. " Of the caufe of the lyghtnynge, of blafyng fterrys, and flamis fleynge in the ayre. ♦ * —p. 1 6. Studious Defyre. Na, no dowte yt it is rownde every- where. Which I could prove, thou flioudell not fay nay, Yf I had therlo any time and lefer ; But I knovve a man cailyd Experyens, Of dyvers inllrumentys is never without, Covvde prove all thefe poyritys, and yet by his fcyens, Can tell how many myle the erthe is abowte, And many other llraunge conclufions no dowte His inllrumentys coulde fhcw the (o certayn. That every rude carter fhold them perfayve playn. * * • * — p. 26. Enter Experyens. Stu. Now cofyn Experyens, as I may fay. Ye are right welcom to this contrey, Without any fayning. Exp. Syr, I thanke you therof hertely. And I am as glad of your company. As any man lyvynge. Stu. Syr I underllonde that ye have be In mauny a ftraunge countree. And have had grete felycyte Straunge caufes to feke and fynde. Meteorology. Experyens a pradlical navigator, who has feen many a ftraunge countree. i' r ii 1 1 ^'iyi 94 Life of Exp. Right farre Syr, I have ridden and gone And I'cen llraunge thingcs many a one In Indies, In Affryk, Europe, and Yndc ; eaft and weft, Both ell, and weft, I have been farr • North alio, — and feen the fowth Ilerr Bothe by fee and lande. And ben in fondry nacyons With peple of dy vers condycyons Marvelous to underllonde. Stu. Syr, yf a man have fuch corage Or devocyon in pylgrymage Jheruzalem unto For to accompt the nexte way, How many myle is it I you pray From hens thedcr to goo? and can fhow Exp. Syr, as for aile fuche queftyons them on the 1 t_ Of townes to know the fytuacyon, globe. How ferr they be afunder. And other poyntes of cofmogryfy. Ye fhall never lerne them more furely Than by that fygure yonder. For who that fygure did fyrft devyfe It feemeth well he was wyfe And perfeft in this fcyens; For both the fe and lande alfo Lye trewe, and juft as they fliolde do I know by expcryens. Stu. Who thynk you brought here this fygure ? Exp. I wot not. Stu. Certes, Lord Nature, Hymfelfe not longe agone Whiche was here perfonally, Declaryngc hye phyJofophy And caile thys fygure purpofcly For Humanites inllruccion. Exp. Dowtlefly, right nobly uone. Stu. Syr, this realme ye kr.ow, is callid Englandc Sometyme Brettayne, I undcrllonde; Therefor, I prey you, point with your hande In what place it fluildc lye. , Exp, Syr, this ys Ynglande lyenge here, And that is Skotlande that joyneth hym ncre Compaflyd aboute everywhere With the Occian fee rownde; And next from them weftwardly Here by hymfelf alone doth lye Irlande that holfome grounde. Here than is the narrow fee To Calice and Boleyne the next wey And Flaunders in this parte ; Here lyeth Fraunce next hym joynynge And Spayne fouthwarde from thens flandynge And Portyngale in this quart. This countrey is called Italye Beholde where Rome in the myddes loth lye. And Naples here beyonde ; And this lytell fee that here is Is callyd the Gulfe of Venys, And here Venys dothe ihnde. As for Almayne lyeth this way ; Here lyeth Denmark, and Norway; And northwarde on thys fyde 95 He dcfcribes the countries of Europe. |8i f If. M ff': % "I ' ifi' !, I'; 96 Life of Iceland and the Frozen Ocean ; There lyeth Ifelonde where men do fype, But leyonde that fo colde it is No man may there abyde. This fee is called the Great Occyan^ So great it is that never man alio the new landi found within this XX ycre; Coude tell it Jit h the world began Till nozv within this XX yere^ Weflzvarde be foiinde new landes That zoe never harde tell of before this By wrytynge nor other meanys : Yet many nowe have bene there ; And that contrey is (b large of roomc, Muche Icngcr then all Crillcndome, Without fable or gyle; and the coall iide for five thoufand mile ; For dyvcrs mariners had it trycd And faylcd llrcyght by the colle {'j'Xq Above y thoufande myle / But what commodytes be wythyn No man can tell nor well imagin. But yet not long ago Some men of this contrey went. By the kynge's noble confent, It for to ferche to that extent, And coude not be brought thcrto; alfo the rcafon for their return. 1 But they that were they venteres, Have caufe to curfe their maryners, Fals of promys, and diflemblers That falfely them betrayed y Which wold take no painCy to faile fcrther Than their owne lyfl and pleafure ; Wherefor that vyage, and dyvers other Sehajlian Cabot, Such kaytyffes have dejlroycd. O what a thynge had be then If that they that be Englijhmen Myght have been the fur ft of all That there ft:ulde have take poffeffyon^ And made Jurft buytdynge and habytaciont A fnemory perpetuall! And alfj what an honorable thynge, Bothc to the rcahne, and to the Kynge, To have had his domynyon extendynge Thereunto To farre a grounde. Which the noble Kynge of late memory, The moll ssyk Prince the VIJ. Henry Caufed furll for to be founde. And what a grcte meritoryoufe dede It were to have the people inllrufted To lyve more vcrtuoufly; And to Icrnc to knowe, of men the maner. And alio to knowe God theyr maker Whyche as yet lyve all beftly ; For they nother knowe God nor the devell. Nor ever harde telle of hevyn nor hell, Wrytynge nor other fcrypture ; But yet in the ftede of God Almyght, The honour the fonc for hys grete lyggt, For that doth them great pleafure ; Buyldynge nor houfe they have none at all, But wodes, cotes, and cavys fmall No merveyle though it be fo For they ufe no maner of yron Nother in tole nor other wepon n His rt'grct that coloniza- tion was thuo trullratcd. Henry VII. died I j?09. Pious wil]ies. H i '< \ ! i'"i^ ill! jlli 'tii \v ih H i i 98 Pine foiefts. Fifli fo plenti- ful killed with llaves. Lt/e of That fhould help them therto ; Copper they have which is founde In dyvers places above the grounde. Yet they dyg not therefor; For as I feyd they have no yron, Wherby they fliuld in the yerth myne, To ferche for any wore : Great haboundance of woddes therbe, Moll parte vyr, and pyne apple tree. Great ryches myght come thereby Both pyche, and tarre, and fope afshys As they make in the Eeft landes By brynnynge thereof only. Fyfhc they have fo great plente. That in havyns take and flayne they be With Itavys withouten fayle. Now, Frenchemen and other have founde the trade That yerely of fyfhe there they lade Above a C fayle. But in the fouth part of that contrey The people there go naked alway The lande is of fo great hete ! And in the North parte all the clothes That they were is but belles fkynnes They have no nother fete ; But how the people furll begun In that contrey or whens they came, For Clerkes it is a quellyon. Other things more 1 have ne flore That I coude tel thereof but now no more Tyll another feafon." Sehajlian Cabot, We are, for this next voyage of 15 17, largely indebted to Cabot's perfonal friend,' Richard Eden, from whom we learn, that '' Henry VIII., in the eighth year of his reign, fitted out, furnifhed, and fet forth certain fhips, under the government of Sebaftian Cabot, yet living ( 1 553), and one Sir Thomas Pert, whofe faint heart was the caufe that voyage took none ^^^a.. If" (he continues), " I fay, fuch manly courage had not been wanting, it might happily have come to pafs, that that rich treafurye, called Perularia, which is now in Spain, in^ the city of Seville, and fo named, (for that in it is kept the infinite riches brought thither from the new found land of Peru), might long fince have been in the Tower of London, to the King's great honour and the wealth of his realm." All the evidence tends to (how that the great objefl of this voyage was to find an opening through Hudfon's Bay to the back of the Newfound land. That Chriftian knight and brave navif^ator. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, whofe laft recorded words, as, drifting by his confort fhip, he was 99 Voyage of 1517- Richard Eden's " Munfter," Lon Ion, cd. '553. i'crt's cow- ardice. The olvcil: O'.'ing to ^cc to India through Hudlon'iHay. I 'ffuwwff i n i f ii 't i i.d ii iini^fl i i SI :l|ii ■,il 1 111 'f f'' ill ■ "J hi? •PI 1 t '■ III! il 11 $ m f ^ '1! I PI 11 Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 1 6. Hiftory of Henry VJI. Ortelius, " Theatrum Orbis TcirarLini." Life of r een on the poop, fitting with his book in his hand, were thefe : " Courage, my lads ! we are as near heaven at fea as on land," fays " Cabot entered this fame fret, affirming that l>e failed very far weftward, with a quarter of the north, on the north fide of Labrador, on the iithof June, until he came to the fep- tentrional latitude of 67^°, and finding the fea flill open, might, and would have gone to Cathay, if the mutiny of the mafter and mariners had not been." Lord Bacon relates, " He failed, as he affirmed on his return, and made a chart thereof, very far weflward, with a quarter of the north, on the north fide of Labrador, until he came to the latitude of 67 i°, finding the fea flill open." Ortelius, who tells us he had Cabot's map before him, has drawn one entitled ''America five novi orbis defcriptio," in which he depicts the form of Hudfon's Bay, and a channel leading from its northern extremity towards the pole, precifely as it is. How is it he was fo corred ? Whence did he get his information, but from Cabot } No Sehajiian Cabot. one elfe ever pretended to have been even fo far as the opening of the fret or ftrait, into the bay ; and could Cabot have drawn it had he not been there ? Livio Sanuto, a noble Venetian, in his "Geografia," 1588, makes repeated allufions to the map of " ChiarifTimo Sebaftiano Caboto," with whom, through the medium of a friend, he correfponded, and therein gives a defcrip- tion which minutely correfponds with Sir H. Gilbert's. Robert Thorne, another princely Briftol man, who died in London in 1532, leaving all his debtors forgiven, £4440 to charitable objedls, and £5140 to poor relations (immenfe fums in thofe days), in a letter to the King, in 1527, (advifing three routes to be taken to get to Cathay: one by the north -eaft, afterwards taken by the unfortunate Willoughby ; one diredly over the pole ; and one to the north- weft,) refers to this voyage of Cabot's taken in that dir€(5tion. " And if they will take their courfe after they be paft the pole toward the weft, they ftiall go on the back fide of the New found " Geografia," 1588. Britifh Muleum. Stow fays Robert Thorne was born in 1492. Hakluytjvol. i. p. 212. IW« m I 0}: n W iiil 1( .. Is ' » I V r iii^l^ 111 I m^. m B . '' i if •:i • II! 102 Thorn and Elliott's voyage. Hakluyt,vol. i. p. 219. Cabot gets clofe to the MaRnetic Pole and the North-V/clt Paflage. Life of land, which of late was difcovered by your Grace's fubjeds (Labrador, and the fouth coafts of Hudfon's Bay), until they come to the backfide of the Indies occidental." Thus, by advancing regularly, by the route before taken in the north by His Grace's fub- jeds, the weftern fide of the American con- tinent would be attained ; and further, in fpeak- ing of another effort made under the aufpices of his own father and Hugh Elliott, both of them Briftol merchants, who were the fucceflbrs of Warde and Thomas in the patent of 1501, Thorne, alluding to Cabot's voyage, fays: — "Of the which there is no doubt, as now plainly appeareth, if the manners would then have been ruled, and followed their pilot's mind (Cabot), the land of the Weft Indies {i.e, Peru), from whence all the gold cometh, had been ours." Well faid Robert Thorn, of Briftol, the nineteenth century has proved your theory to be correct ; and Sebaftian Cabot was on the very verge of the difcovery, having attained to the ftraits which lead to the magnetic pole, and within a fhort diftance of the paftage Sebafiian Cabot. which McClure, Clintock, and Collinfon have in our time verified. Cowardice is not an attribute of Britifh ad- mirals ; true, we have had one fhot, but it is more than queftionable that he, the vidlim of political neceflity, was a coward ; yet amongft the hoft of brave old heroes, here is one with a veritable white feather. Sir Thomas Pti w was a vice-admiral of Eng- land ; Richard Eden, in the life-time of Cabot, and in the enjoyment of his friendfhip, makes this grave charge, and adually dedicates his book to the Lord High Admiral of England. Would he have dared to do this if the charge had been falfe .'' That it was openly known, and believed to be true, we fee by Robert Thome's allufion to it eleven years afterwards, and alfo that of Sir H. Gilbert. We can find no excufe. Sir Thomas muft go down to pofterity as he has come to us, with the brand of coward on his brow. Dr. Robertfon, on what we deem moft fal- lacious grounds, fays that now Cabot came home by way of St. Domingo, threatening to attack the Spanifh dominions there. We be- 103 Pert (hows the white feather. Duke of Northumber- land Lord High Ad. miral. Dr. Robert- fon's autho- rity is « Oviedo," book xix. cap. xiii. who J'VC AH. I 1 ;)•» :"! lit ■"^'1 fays an Eng- lifh rover, tec, &c., called at Hif- paniola, Xrc, in MDXXvii. Dr, Robert- Ibn has mii- taken this date for 1 51 7, coniequently it could not be Cabot who was in the Rio de la Plata for Spain in 1527. Cabot ftudies the variation of the com- pafs. lieve that he was too honourable a man ; his whole life prefents the pidlure of an honeft, earned, forecafting gentleman ; who, though not faultlefs, would fcorn to do fo foul an a,&Aon. Befides, the very next year he was eledted to " an high and honourable poft in the Spanifh kingdom," which efFedually de- ftroys this miferable accufation. Though baffled by poltroonery, and com- pelled to return to England without accom- plifhing his mifflon, Cabot did good fervice to fcience by this voyage; the variation of the com- pafs, and the great dip of the needle, occupied his attention ; the inhofpitable fhores of the vaft bay, nearly to its terminal northern point, were mapped and furveyed, and plans for the ac- curate determination of the longitude alter- nated with the difficult work of navigating an unknown fea in a high latitude, with a white- livered crew and a craven commander. But thefe refults were not fatisfadory to the merchants who had adventured their moneys and commodities ; and on Cabot's return, the King was full of continental anxieties, whilft London and the whole country was being again Sebajiian Cabot, ravaged by that awful peftllence, the fvveating ficknefs, which fufpended even the ordinary occupations of commerce, and Cabot, who could not be inad:ive, to whom " labour was reft," beaten by circumftances, but not dif- heartened, finding no opening in England, turned his face to the South- Eaft. 105 July to Deer. 1517. Cabot looks to a South- Eaft paflage. Ili w§ ■4 ; 11^ ■•!ffi Charles V. fucceeds to the throne of Spain. CHAPTER VII. T/?e Emperor Charles V. appoints Cabot his Pilot-major in 1 5 1 8 A.D. Takes him zoith him from England, to fill the office in 1520 a. d. Cabofs interview with Con^ tarini i his duplicity; controverfy between Spain and Portugal refpeSlingthe Moluccas; board of geographers; Cabot their pref dent ; decifion given in favour of Spain. Expedition to explore the South-wejl; Cabot in com- mand; mutiny; he feizes the ringleaders^ puts them on Jhore, enters, and explores the Rio de la Plata; Garcia^ s falfe accufation adopted by Southey; explana- tion; Cabot's jufification by the Emperor. HARLES v., the talented, youth- ful monarch of Spain, who hadjuft fucceeded his grandfather, Ferdi- nand, now began to enquire what had become of the expedition of 15 16, which had been planned to explore the Indies ; where was the head that defigned, and the hand which drew thofe wondrous charts of the ftrange lands acrofs the ocean ? We can eafily underftand how all this ori- 'I-' 1 Life of Sebaflian Cabot. ginated. Cabot had a friend at court ; An- ghiera, better known as Peter Martyr, was as high in the confidence of Charles, who had juft given him a rich abbey, as he had been in that of Ferdinand. He died in 1 526, and muft have been now bufy with his great work, " De rebus Oceanicis et orbe Novo Decades ;" and what more natural than that he fhould defire to have at his elbow the man who, of all other living, was beft qualified to give him pradical information thereon. Anghiera was the fpring that moved the king; Cabot was fought for; in 15 18 he was named Pilot-major of Spain, though he did not enter upon the office until Charles vifited England, and took him back with him in 1520. One of the duties was to examine all pilots ; none of whom could proceed to the Indies without examination and approval by him. This office was too much of the charader of a finecure for one of his adlive habits. That he was on the look out for employment, we find from his ftatement to Cardinal Gafpar Contarini, whom he tells, that he was again offered fervice under Henry VIII. in 15 19, 107 Anjihiera, or Peter Martyr. " Herrera," Dec. 3, lib. iii. cap. vii. I Dec. 2, lib, x. cap. vii. Unpublished Diary of Venetian EmbaflTy, 1617, by Rawdon Brown. "^M It" ti! ., ii I ( I i ! fi'l If u pi ft :m| ,ri io8 Cabot is offered em- ployment by the Cardinal WoJl'ey. Delay of Wolfey's expedition. Li/e of by Cardinal Wolfey, " who told me he would give me high terms if I would fail v 1th an armada of liis on a voyage of difcovery ; that the veflels were almoft ready, and they had got together 30,000 ducats for their outfit." (This no doubt explains the delay in his acceptance of the office of Pilot-major, oc- curring, as it did, between his being nominated in 151 8, and his adual entrance on its duties in 1520.) "I anfwered Wolfey," he continues, "That, being In the fervlce of the King of Spain, I could not go without his leave; but, that if free permiflion were conceded to me from hence, I would ferve him." This expedition of Wolfey's did not ftart till 1527; and on their arrival at St. John's, Newfoundland, they found fourteen fail of Normans, Bretagnes, and Portuguefe there fifhing. Somewhere on their voyage, their pilot and fome of the failors venturing on (bore, were feized, killed, roafted, and eaten in the fight of all on board. Candour compels us to record here an incident in Cabot's life, which difplays a degree Spain jealous of England, of duplicity which we believe in his latter davs ' ^^^fl ' ■' • duplicity. he would not have been guilty of. He was leading an indolent life, on a hand- fome falary, but longing for adive employ- ment. Charles V., in 15 19, would certainly not confent to his entering the fervice of Henry of England, for Henry was at the field of the cloth of gold, aiding Francis of France in his rivalry with Charles for the empire of Ger- many. Such was the jealoufy felt, that though the lifts were fet up, clofe to the Spanifh King's dominions, not a fingle knight of Spain ftirred to do honour to thefe pageantries. F>om 1520 to 1525, Charles was bufy at war with France ; and though he retained the man, he had neither time nor money to fpare for expeditions of difcovery. Weary with waiting, Cabot feems to have turned towards Venice, his father's country, and all but his own. The Queen of the Adriatic was on the moft: friendly terms with Spain, and might eafily, if fhe chofe, get from the Emperor the transfer n.nd at war with France. ii y i i I 10 Cabot leeks adtivc employ under Venice. Dijrics and Def'patclies of Venetian Embaliy, 1617-1618, unpublilhed. Life of of his fervices. In order to ingratiate himfelf with her ambafTador, he ftrove, therefore, to make himfelf out to be a Venetian, though bred in England : one who was worth a good wage ; his prefent mafter was giving him fo much fordoing nothing ; he wanted work, but he would not like to take lefs than he was now getting. This feems to have been the fpirit of the interview : a defire for adive and equally re- munerative employment; and if the truth ftood in his way, it muft be facrificed in order to gain his end. Well ! " let him that is without fault caft the firft ftone," ever remembering the age in which the event occurred. We give the con- verfation as Contarini relates it : — " My Lord Ambaflador, to tell you the truth," (juft what people fiiy when they don't mean to tell it,) ** I was bfjrn at Venice, but was bred in England, and then entered the fervice of their Catholic Majefties of Spain, and King Ferdinand made me Captain, with a falary of 50,000 maravedis. Subfequently, his prefent Majefty gave me the grade of Pilot- %v major, with an a^lclitional falary of 50,000 maravedis, and 25,000 maravedis befides, as Ad- jutant of the Coaft, forming a total of 125,000 maravedis, or equal to 300 ducats." Then follows his narration of Wolfey's offer, after which he goes on to fay : "At that period, in converfation one day with a certain friar, a Venetian, named Sebaf- tian Colonna, with whom I was on a very friendly footing, he faid to me, * Mafter Se- baftian, you take fuch great pains to benefit foreigners, and forget your native land : would it not be poflible for Venice likewife to de- rive fome advantage from you ? ' " At this my heart fmote me, and I told him I would think about it, and fo on. On re- turning to him the next day, I faid that I had the means of rendering Venice a partaker of this navigation, whereby fhe would obtain great profit. " Which is the truth, for I have difcovered it." Contarini compliments him upon his pa- triotifm, but doubts the feafibility of his fcheme, and ftarts difficulties. Cabot contends that his plan is pradicable, and adds : — ■ 1 1 r Cabot's inter- view with Friar Colonna. I, 1^ lil y' m \H ; I h- . i»& lif ' I > H , I He offers to come to Venice at his own charges. But when the Council of Ten fend for him, he declines to leave Spain, t I " I will tell you — I would not accept the offer of the King of England, for the fake of benefitting my country/' (Alas! poor human nature ; he didn't tell Wolfey fo, but "I will, if the Emperor will let me"). " For if I had lif- tened to the Englifh propofal, there would have been no more hope for Venice." He then adds : " The way and the means are eafy. I will go to Venice at my own coft ; they fhall hear me, and if they difapprove of the projed devifed by me, I will return in like manner at mine own cofl." But he urges Contarini to keep the matter fecret. Further communications pafTed, and the Council of Ten caufed a letter to be carefully conveyed to Cabot, exhorting him to come to Venice, where he would obtain everything. But meanwhile, other projeds arife on the fpot ; adive employment is urged on him, and the well-afFe6led patriotifm dies away, or like a garment, is thrown on one fide. Some one has faid of Cabot, " He was a great liar, as well as a great navigator." We deem this harfh and unfair. A folitary inftance of departure from the truth fhould not flamp a t % llf I' I Sebajlian Cabot, •»3 man's cliaraiier ; nor was he far from beins: a Venetian, whofe father was one, and who from tour years old to manhood was taught and trained in that city. Still, it was not the truth; and whilft a venial offence, it muft ever ftand as a flaw in his otherwife all but unblemifhed character. Nor will the above canting converfation bear comparifon with his fimple utterance to Richard Eden, the friend of his ripeft years, the confidant of his voyages, and the foother of his dying hours. To him he fiys : " I was borne in Bryftowe, and at iiij. yeare olde, I was carried with my father to Venice." He had a golden induce- ment to lie to Contarini, and he fell under the temptation. He had no fuch inducement in his friendly talk with Eden, and each word hence bears the fimple ftamp of truth. Rawdon Browne, in a note to the preface to the "Venetian Calendar," vol. i. p. 78, tells us that Sebaftian Cabot took out letters of na- turalization at Venice, and that the patent is regiftered in the book of privileges. This at once proves that he was not a na- Cabot's father a Venetian by adoption. His own Iktcmcnt as to his birtJi at Briftol. EJen, Dec. fbl. 255. " Venetian Calendar," vol. i, p. 78, (ass Sebaftian, by patent, became a Venetian. 11 l'il i- i .-'1 t ji lift: r If" h € t 1 114 This an error ot'name. Spain fecks a loutli-vvelt pafl'age. Conference at Badajoz. Life of tive. But we rather fufpeift that this is a part of the fatality which feems to attend the name, and that this is a miftake, in placing the name Sebaftian for John, for though the two dates 1472 and 1476 are named in the cafe of the father, there is no reference anywhere to the conferring the privilege on the fon, fave in this foot-note. That North-Weft Paflage was the child of Cabot's earlieft hopes, and though baffled oft, he would, we are certain, be glad to try again. But the cry in Spain was, " To the South ! to the South!" "They that feek riches," faid Peter Martyr, " muft not go to the frozen North." Spain wanted to get by the fouth-weft to the Moluccas, which ftie claimed. *' Not fo," faid Portugal ; " they belong to us, for they are within the limit of longitude covered by the Pope's Bull, which grants all that region to us." A conference of geographers was therefore fummoned, of which Cabot was the prefident, and young Columbus had alfo a feat at the board. They met at Badajoz in April 1524, and on the 31ft of May it was decided that the cc- veted Spice Iflands were by twenty degrees within the Spanifh waters. Portugal retired in difguft, and prepared a fleet to enforce its claims, and to deftroy com- merce in thofe regions. Spain, on the contrary, exultant at the deci- fion, and eager for the riches of the Eaft, formed a company, under the higheft fandlion, and Cabot was folicited to take the command ; fo he gave up Venice. Our merchant prince, Robert Thorne, of Briftol, then a refident at Seville, entered into the adventure, principally that two Englifh friends of his who were fomewhat learned in cofmography might go in the fhip, to brin him certain relation of the country, and to ac quire expertnefs in the fcience of navigation. Good Robert deferved to be rich, for he knew the right way to ufe his wealth. One of thefe friends was George Barlow, of whom more anon. In September, 1524, Cabot received permif- fion from the Council of the Indies to engage in the enterprife, and gave bond to the com- pany for the faithful execution of his trufl. or 115 Portugal luUen. Spain exultant. R. Thorne, of Briftol, joins the Spaniards in the new adventuc. Cabot recti VLS permiflion to tike the command. lid I ai"\ Charles lends them ihips. His fhare in the antici- pated profit. Route through Straits of Magellan. Sail in April 1526. Portugal lends a Ipying expedition. The Emperor, on March 4th, 1525, agreed to let them have a fquadron of three veflels of not lefs than 100 tons, and 150 men. A fmall caravel was added by a private in- dividual (was it Thorne ?), and the title of Cap- tain-General was conferred on Cabot. The Emperor was to receive 4000 ducats and a ftiare of the profits, whilft the whole in- veftment of the company only amounted to lOjOOO ducats. The intention was to fail through the Straits of Magellan, and then thoroughly to explore the weftern fhores of the continent. Auguft 1525, was the date finally fettled on for failing ; but by fundry intrigues, Portu- gal managed to detain the expedition until April 1526. Not content with foftering difcontent on board the fliips ere they failed, that jealous power continued her machinations at home and alfo in Spain. She fent out a fquadron, under Garcia, whofe objed was to excite mu- tiny, to ad in concert with the difaffeded, and in every way to hinder the progrefs of an expedition commanded by a man who had. i if !■ i Sebajiian Cabot, 1 1 7 they faid, robbed them of the fpice-bearing Moluccas. In April then Cabot failed for the Brazils, by the Canaries, Cape de Verde, and Cape Auguftine; though even in this he has been mifreprefented by thofe who wi/hed to detrad from his fame as a navigator. Petty jealoufy of the great foreigner from the firft marred the fuccefs of the adventure. The company appointed agents, or deputies, who were named by the freighters : thefe con- trolled Cabot in every particular, and were conftantly at crofs purpofes with him. He wifhed to place a man on whom he could rely (De Rufis) as fecond in command. The agents infifted on putting Mendez in, as Lieu- tenant-General, whofe fole recommendation feems to have been that he had failed as purfer with Magellan. We may conceive the irkfome pofition of our countryman, compelled to receive, as his right hand, a man whom he diftrufted, and in reference to whom he had to infift, that, dur- ing any unavoidable abfence of his, Mendez fhould take no ftep whatever except he had Cabot's route to Brazil. He is croffed by the fuper- cargos. Has an ineffi- cient fub- commander. f !i 1^: if* ■■*«■■ ■f% I il i iV hi' Vi )|i' li^ , 1 i * ii8 Sealed orders given to eacii ihip, which tend to create dif- aftedtion. Captain Caro faithful. Life of orders from himfelf ; barring which, he was not to a(5t at all. He was thus obliged to render his Lieu- tenant helplefs, in order to reftrain him from mifchief. Befides all this, as a crowning folly, fealed order « given to each fhip, to be opened at feu. TScfe contained the abfurd provifion, that in cale or ths Crip;ain's death, eleven others fhould fucceed to the command in the rota- tion in which their names were placed. If thefe all died, then the furvivors were to caft lots for the Captaincy, &c., &c. The refult of this was immediately feen ; it really offered a complete premium for mur- der, and makes Cabot's fafety almoft a fpecial adl of Divine Providence. DifafFedion rife, and fown by the red gold of the Portuguefe ere they failed, now broke out to view ; thofe higheft in rank, and neareft the prize coveted, were the very worft. Out of the whole lot of haughty Dons, the eleventh man. Captain Gregario Caro, Abdiel like, " among the faithlefs faithful only found," Sehajlia?! Cabot, was the only one who retained his integrity. The others fancied that they were, each man alone, fit for command ; and feemed to think that the baton was within their reach. Scarcely were they out of fight of land when a report was ftudioufly bruited abroad that they were fhort of provifions ; before they reached the coaft of Brazil, Mendez was crufty and infolent, De Rojas muttered and fcowled, with fierce beetling brows, and De Rodas fneered that the Captain was too gentle and mild for fo arduous a tafk. As they neared the land, the ftorm mutter- ings grew louder; and, flirutting up and down with their hands on their fwords, they threat- ened open violence. But they completely miftook their man. The naval heroes of Britain have ever been men, who, gentle as a woman in the calm, could rife equal to any emergency, and ever prefcnt an unquailing front to the fto^-m. Cabot was no longer a mere pilot to a cra- ven, recreant Pert, but an Englifiiman, with a heavy refponfibility reding on him, and high in the confidence of his augufi: employer. 119 Report of fhorcncfs of provifions. Culminates in a mutiny. Cabot equal to the emergency. m % ■\ ll 1 W'', " % «i p' r f 1 i.i '-i 1^ ll I 4 ' ■HI it?' 120 Seizes the mutineers, and lands them. Takes mea- fures to let the Emperor know, and receives his approval of his adiion. Life of He felt that a bo!d and daring exercife of rightful authority was now his only chance; and though, as far as we know, he had only two of his own countrymen to back hirn, amidft a herd of jealous Spaniards, with daunt- lefs refolution he feized Captain de Rojas, and with an audacious boldnefs that paralyzed the mutineers, took him out of his own fhip and from their very midft, put him, Mendez, and De Rodas, into a boat, and landed them on a fpot where they were compelled to remain until the Portuguefe expec'tion, under Garcia (which failed in Auguft, four months after Cabot), picked them up, and fent them home in a flave fhip. The haughty grandees, full of anger at their humiliation, bitterly refented this treatment in a memorial to the Emperor. Eventually, Cabot fent home George Bar- low and another, whofe reprefentations fo fatif- fied Charles as to the abfolute neceflity of the harfh ftep which had been taken, that he pro- mifed Cabot the needful fuccours, and alfo fent him permiflion to colonize the country. A conclufive proof of the wifdom of the Sebajlian Cabot. courfe adopted is feen in this, that, during the five years that the expedition remained out, years full of toil, fuffering, and great privation, there was no more murmuring, but ever de- voted fidelity and unity of action. Yet even our own Southey, in his " Hif- tory of the Brazils," has echoed the calumnies of Garcia to the difparagement of Cabot, whom he accufes of requiting the goodwill of the natives, with the ufual villainy of an old ex- plorer, by carrying away four of them ; and he alfo denounces as an ad of cruelty the ftep by which he quelled the mutiny, and, without Moodfhed, faved the lives of probably many others befides his own. Let us briefly examine thefe accufations ; and, firft, who is the accufer : Diego Garcia, a Portuguefe, who failed four months after Cabot, whofe objed was to injure and prevent the fuccefs of Cabot's expedition ; he had a fhip of loo tons, a pinnace, one brigantine, and the frame of another, ready to be put together at need. Touching at the Bay of St. Vincent, Garcia found a Portuguefe, of the degree of a Bache- 121 Southey's adoption from Garcia of the calumnies againft Cabot. The objcil of the accufer. Garcia's voyage. 122 Life of !"■■ '^ Garcia dif- pofes of his largeft M! r %i r|. Cabot puts into the Rio Je la Plata. CHAPTER VIII. Continues his refearches on the La Plata: builds forts ; ajcends the Paraguay ; conquers the attacking Guarani Indians; Garcia' s arrival; its conj'equences ; Cabot zvins the love of the natives; cultivates the foil; Jludies the natural hijlory of the country ; makes lazvs; ad- miniflcrs jujlice ; confolidates his p07ver. Treachery of Garcia' s men; natives carry fjrt San Spirit us and dejlroy them and that portion oj Cabot's men who were there. Endeavour of the Indians to furprife Cabot; he beats them off. Embarks for Spain ; rcfumes his high pojl and its emoluments for eighteen years. Re- turns to his native place, Brijlol, and fettles there; pro- bable reajons zchy. Spanifh Ambafador demands his return of King Edtvard and his council ; Cabot's inter- viezo and reply. Spain fir ikes off his pe?ifon ; King Edzvard grants him one. ^^g^HOUGH Cabot, by his firmnefs, had diilipated the mutiny, he did not feel himfelf juftified in profecu- ting the long and perilous voyage originally contemplated without confulting his auguft employer ; he therefore put into the H^\ hA WW Lifeof Sebajlian Cabot, Rio de la Plata, and from thence Tent home Hernando Calderon and George Barlow with a ftatement of all that had occurred. 1 he expelled commanders were men of high rank, and great influence at home. Miguel de Rodas had been with Magellan in his /hip the '* Vi(5tory," which circumnavi- gated the globe. The Emperor had given him a penfion for life and a device for his coat-of-armr, commemorative of that achieve- ment. Martin Mendez had been in the fame fhip, and the device prepared for him was of a yet more flattering defcription. Probably their accidental aflbciation with fo great an enterprife had given them a reputa- tion far beyond their defert ; at all events, they were men whom Cabot could not afi^ord to defpife. Meanwhile our intrepid navigator had loft no tune. His immediate predeceflbr as Pilot major, De Solis, had difcovered this vaft river, whofe mouth is an inlet of 150 miles in width, and on an ifland in it had lofl: his life. Cabot puflied his way up to this fpot, and 127 Sends home Barlow ami Calderon, to counteradt the ftate- ments of the mutineers. The Plata I'tevioufly difcovered by Dc! Solis. Gomira, cap. 89. iHi'l :!!• M^ 128 "Decades," iii. Herrera, lib. ix. cap. iii. R. Eden's " Decades," fol. 316. "Ifle of Martin Garcia," the Icene of the death of De Solis. Goinara, cap. Ixxxix. finding a vaft body of water ftill defcending, and precious metals more abundant among the natives the higher he went, he, hoping to be able to fend home a favourable report, profe- cuted his refearches before he fent home his meflengers. One of his three fhips had been loft on the voyage, and the men, who faved themfelves by fwimming, were now diftributed between the two fhips and the caravel. Pufhing his way then boldly up this broad but fhallow inlet, whofe intricate navigation and violent pamperos make it to this hour the dread of the navigator, he reached an ifland, which ftill bears the name he gave to it, St. Gabriel. The low flielving ftiores on either hand gave fuch ftiallow water that he cared not to take his ftiips near the mainland. Near St. Gabriel was another ifland, where poor De Solis lay buried. He had reached thus far when, in an unfortunate difpute with the natives, he was fet upon, killed, together with fifty of his men, and eaten ; though how they managed to eat him and alfo to bury him ~ I! ' R. Eden's " Decades," lol. 316. 129 is a problem which our informant, Herrera, has left unfolved. Here the natives afTembled in numbers, and made a great (how of refiftance, but Eden fays, ''Cabot, without refpefl of peril, thought beft to expugne it by one means or other, wherein his boldnefs tooke goode effede, as often tymes chaunceth in grate affayres/' At St. Gabriel he left his fhips, and in his boats explored (even leagues up the ftream, until he reached another river, to a port clofe to the mouth of which he gave the name of St. Salvador; and, as it offered a good harbour, he returned and brought thither his fhips, having, however, to lighten them ere he could get them in. This would feem to have been on the Rio Naranjos, or the lower branch of the mouth of the Parana, near Its confluence with the Uruguay. Here, in an Ifland about two leagues from the fpot where De Soils perlfhed, he ereded a fort, which was (landing in 1586. Though the Uruguay was a very large | Avoids th River Uru- Ilalcluyt, vol. iii. p. 729. Herrera, Dec. iv. lib, viii, cap. ix. river, he avoided it, for the fame reafon that guayi K V:f '' n* ft^ if, 130 his object being to get weftwards. Two of his men killed. Antonio de Grajeda left in command of the fort. I Builds an- other fort at Terceiro. Gives the command of ittoGregorio | Caro. I Life of led him afterwards to pafs the mouth of the noble Parana— he faw thefe both led from the North, and his great objed was to get, not into Brazil, but to the Wefl, becaufe he found that it was from thence the filver came of which the natives were pofTefled. During the building of this fort the firft blood was fhed. The natives killed and carried off two of the Spaniards, but, in fierce derifion, faid they would not eat them, becaufe they were foldiers, of whofe flefli they had already had a furfeit in De Sol is and his fol- lowers. In this port Cabot left his fhips and a garri- for under the command of Antonio de Grajeda, having firll cut down the caravel for the con- venience of river navigation ; and with her and the boats he now proceeded up the Parana. On a-riving at the jundion of the Car- carama, or Terceiro, he built near it a fort, finding, as he faid, that the natives were intel- ligent. This he garrifoned with a party under the command of the faithful Gregorio Caro, the captain of the Maria del Efpinar, Sebajlia7i Cabot, Having thus carefully fecured a bafe in cafe of having to retreat, he, with his greatly- weakened troop, pufhed boldly, but carefully, up the river. Reaching the Parana's jiindlion with the Paraguay, though in reality the largert: of the two ftreams, he left it on the right hand, be- caufe the diredion. whence it flowed was not the route he was anxious to take, and for thirty-four leagues farther urged his way up the Paraguay. Defcribing this voyage in the converfation with Ramufio's friend, he fays, " I found an exceedingly large and great river, named at this prefent time the Rio de la Plata— that is, the river of filver— into which I failed, and followed it into the firme land more than 120 leagues, finding it everywhere very faire, and inhabited with infinite people, which, with admiration, came running daily to our Hiips. Into this river run fo many other rivers that it is in manner incredible." The region which our traveller had now reached prefented an entirely new afped, being everywhere cultivated ; and the feeling which 3i His prudence. Leaves the larger river and ftill pufhes well- wards. Rich. Eden's " Decades," fol. 255. Ramufio, torn. i. fol 4.15. \l- :l! i V'" - 4- "' m \mm I § 132 The natives a iuperior cLifs, wlio cultivate the Toil. I Spaniards 1 leized. Great battle j Cabot vidto- riuus, but with heavy lofs. Herrera, Dec. iv. lib. i. cap. i. He apprifes Caio by let- ter. Garcia arrives in the river. Herrera, Dec. iv. lib. i. c.ip. i. Life of naturally fprings from exclufive pofleflion of the foil led the natives to look with great jealoufy on the intruders, which ripened even- tually into the fierceft and moft deadly animo- fity. Three of the Spaniards, having ftrayed to gather the fruit of the palm-tree, were feized by the natives. Cabot rufhed to the refcue, and a moft fan- guinary battle enfued ; three hundred of the natives fell, but his fmall party loft twenty-five of their number — a moft ferious lofs, which fo reduced their ftrength as to make further pro- grefs impracticable. Like a wife commander, he at once fent down his wounded, and apprifed the garrifon below of his lofs and their danger. Juft then Garcia had arrived at St. Salvador, and Grajeda, who was in command, thinking that it was the mutineers, manned his boats and proceeded in force againft him. Garcia made himfelf known, and the two parties entered tiie port amicably. From hence Garcia fent his ftiip to fulfil the contradl he had made for carrying the h" '.V.i Sebajlian Cabot, flaves, who were natives ftolen from the Brazil coaft. With fixty men in his two brigantines he afcended the river to fort Santus Spiritus; here he fummoned Caro to give him imme- diate porTeflion in the name of the Emperor, contending that he had orders which gave him the rights of difcovery, though he was fix months later on the ground than Cabot. Caro told him that he held the fort in the name of the Emperor and Sebaftian Cabot, but was quite willing to give him a welcome, and all the aid he needed, though he would never furrender it. However, he begged Garcia, as a perfonal favour, to look out for wounded Spaniards, or any who were prifoners, and faid that he him- felf would repay him if he found any on his afcent of the river, for, though Cabot had de- feated the Indians, there might, he thought it poffible, be fome of their people in their hands. But Garcia, inftead of at once pro- ceeding to the relief of his fellow Europeans on reaching the Parana, failed up it for fome diftance ; nor do we hear of him at Santa Ana "^21 Garcia's fum- inons to Caro. Care's noble aniWer j and his offer of perfonal indemnity for iols. Garcia's heartlefs conduft. m Hi- A h ^i mi II ■f i i^ ill 134 Cabot and Garcia meet. Cabot's cha- rafteriftic de- cifion. Charles the Firth's de- clfion. Life of until Cabot had come to a good underftanding with the natives, and all was profperity and peace. Of the interview between the two com- manders we know nothing but the refult. It was not confiftent with Cabot's known chara6l:er, and his high {landing in Spain, to ftruggle for lawlefs or even for doubtful power. His commiflion did not diredtly cover his prefent operations, though it might do fo indiredlly ; fo he defcended the river with Garcia to Salvador, and thence fent home Barlow and Calderon, as we have fliown, with a comprehenfive ftatement of all the incidents which had occurred fince he left Seville, and the circumftances which had led him to alter his courfe. The Emperor heard Barlow and Calderon as well as the mutineers, whom he caufed to be fent for, and evidently arrived at the con- clufion, that the latter were rightly ferved ; for he fent word to Cabot that he was to colonize the country, and promifed fpeedily to furnifh him with the neceflary means. Cabot, with his expectations raifed to the Sebajlian Cabot, K^S higheft pitch, was mod eager to carry on the enterprife. He had reached the waters, which, rifing in Potofi, full into the Paraguay, and had dif- covered the fource from which the natives obtained the precious metal which was freely in ufe amongft them. The obftacles between Fort Ana and Peru were trifling ; he was all but within reach of the Golden Empire which Pizarro a few years later, by another route, feized on. He had already beaten, and then negotiated a peace, with the fierce Guaranis, who had invaded Peru ; and, by friendly intercourfe, had at- tached them to himfelf, learned many fecrets of that country, and procured from them much gold and filvcr, which they had brought from thence. Surely if, with a mere handful of men, he had beaten and conquered the fierce people who had overrun and defpoiled fo rich a region, with a few more foldiers, he might enter and take poflefTion of New Caftile, the Golden. But, Tantalus-like, the cup was again to be dafhed from his mouth. Cabot's furthcft in- 1 ind point within light of the moun- tains ot" Peru. Had beaten the Indians, who had con- 4uered Peru, with an ab- furdly Imall force, but was to bi; difap- pointed. 'U :.i|,V ■'• i\h. if*' in 1*1 III 1= it :Hl If* 136 The Emperor poor. I'iznrro im-* portunate and Ipecious, and Cabot is negleded. Waiting, he works, raifes crops, experi- ments on the foil. Ltfe of Charles V. had outrun his exchequer, and was afflidted with a difeafe very prevalent, in modern days, impecuniofity. His cortes re- fufed him money. He had mortgaged the Moluccas to Portugal, and his treafury was empty. Juft then Pizarro, overflowing with ambi- tion, well known at court, perfonally impor- tunate, but aflcing for no money, only for the government of the countries which he might conquer, aflailed the Emperor continually. Cabot was fhelved, Pizarro fucceeded ; of his fuccefsful but infamous career we need fay no more than this, that if Cabot had achieved the conqueft of Peru the blackeft page in the hifl:ory of Spanifh America would never have been written. Whilft waiting, fick at heart, with hope deferred, Cabot erected forts, adminiftered juftice, and reduced all the furrounding na- tions to obedience to the Emperor. Ever adive, when no fupplies came from Spain, he fet the whole party to work, rapidly raifed fufl'icient food, made experiments on the fertility of the foil, carefully noting the Sehajlian Cabot. refults, which, with great minutenefs, he after- wards reported to the Emperor. He clafTified alfo the various produdions of the country, and graphically defcribes the marvellous fecundity of the fwine, and alfo of the horfes, both of which they had imported from Spain ; thefe latter became the parent ftock whence fprung the vaft wild hordes which fcour the Pampas to this day. A clever wit of the laft generation faid of a certain nobleman, that he was ready to take the helm of the ftate, or the command of the channel fleet, at an hour's notice. It was witty, but not new; for here we adually have the greateft commander and navigator of his age, organizing a nation from the moft dif- cordant elements, and developing its powers under manifeft difadvantages. We are naturally proud of the Briftol mariner, whofe perfonal agency gave to Eng- land and her fturdy offspring their vaft pof- feffions in the north, and to Spain the rich and well watered regions in the fouth, of the American continent ; and if any one fhould be at all curious to fee his monument in his ClalTifics pro- dudlions, anil points out thi favourable fituations for rearing and breeding cattle. i Is at once a navigator, commander, and wife ftatefman. Briftol proud of the man tliat gave to England and to America and Spain their vaft pofleflions. I'Vi* J*l ^3« But rears him no monu- ment. Is five years in the IMata. Garcia leaves lome of his (pies behind, who anger the natives. ThcTe liecide on extermi- nating the whites. Li/e of native city, let them know that it lies with Sir Thomas Lawrence's, in the vaft limbo of futurity. In the midft of his labours, and, remember, they extended over five years in this region, the fame evil genius which had followed him acrofs the Atlantic was conftantly marring his efforts, and finally ftruck a well-nigh fiital blow to the expedition. Garcia had fwept the country and failed with his fpoil ; but he had left behind him a party of his followers, who held themfelves amenable to no law. Thefe men, located at Santus Spiritus, were guilty of fome adls of atrocity towards the natives, which roufed their wildeft refentment. It is exprefsly ftated that with this a(5l, whatever it was, Cabot had nothing at all to do ; but the fierce and fanguinary Indians made no diftindtion. Secret meetings were held, a plan of ?-^ was decided upon, and it was determine, to cut off every white man in the country. A little before daybreak the enraged nation burft, with one fell fwoop, down on and car- %. 1 Sebafiian Cabot. ried the entrenchments of Santus Spiritiis, put- ting the feeble garrifon to the fword. Here Caro, the faithful, probably perifhed in command, for we henceforth lofe fight of him. Maddened with fuccefs, they rapidly tra- verfe the intervening country, and try the fame ta(5lics at Fort Salvador. But better watch and ward is kept here. " Defence, not Defiance," is the Briftol man's motto, or rather, as on his portrait, " Spes mea in Deo eft;" but he watches, as well as hopes ; fights, as well as prays ; and beats the enemy off. Sad faces come down the river a few days afterwards, re-inforcements, fent to alarm and put the advance garrifon on their guard, return difpirited : they had found Santus Spiritus defolate, a ruin ; and their friends and com- panions flain to a man. So Cabot fhips the requifite fupplies, difmantles the fort, embarks ' the remnant of his people, and quits for ever the ill-omened ftiore. Five and thirty years, replete with toil, anxiety, and peril, have pafled away fince the ^^9 They ;ittnck Santus Spiri- tus, ll.iy C.iri. and his g.ir- rilon. Swoop down on Fort S.ii • vjdor. Cabot on the watch, beats them ofl'i and for want ot re-inforce- ments returns to Spain. Herrera, Dec. iv. lib. viii. cap. ix. M'\ iil:i 1 ■ llllil W\i-^' 1 ,1 . .i (i m m^ 'f ■> 4 1 1 140 Cabot re- fumes office in Spain, AD. 1531. Ramufio, tom.i.fol.414, D. Eden, or" 1554- Some hope that under the new re- gime Spain may find the record of Cabot's voyages. '1- il. Life of date of the firft patent of Henry VII. ; and though Cabot, on his return to Spain, refumes his high ftation, and might bafk at leifure in the emoluments of office, yet we find his fpirit ar. ■ love of enterprife unbroken, drawing him we know not whither, but repeatedly to fea ; for he fays : " After this, I made many other voyages, which I now pretermit ; and, growing old, I give myfelf to reft from fuch labours, becaufe there are now many young and vigorous fea- men of good experience, by whofe forwardnefs I do rejoice in the fruit of my labours, and reft with the charge of this office, as you fee." So great a change has of late come over the kingdom of Spainj that we may now indulge a hope that the archives of that ancient king- dom will be opened to the itudent, and thit from its hidden treafures fome records faid Cabot, ' in cafe the King's majefty, or we the council, fhould command him to go, whe- ther then he would not do it.' " " Whereunto the faid Cabot made anfwer : ' If the King's Highnefs, or we, fhould fo command, he knew well enough what he had to do.' " <' But it feemeth that the ambafTador took this anfwer of Cabot to mean that, on being fo commanded by the King or by us, he would be content to go." " Wherein we reckon the faid ambafTador to be deceived, for Cabot had divers times before declared unto us that he was fully de- termined not to go hence at all." Spain, of courfe, flruck off his penfion, and Edward immediately gave him one of 250 marks, or ^166 13s. ^d., a very handfome fum for the period. 45 Cabot anfwers the ambafla- dor. Tells the Council he certainly will not go. Spain flops liis penfion, Edward gives him one. 111'' irrr- liili If" H h m •% I m fl'; III Cabot is made luperinten- dent of the naval affairs of the king- dom. CHAPTER IX. Caiot's office ; he explains the variation of the Compafs to the Kings State of Trade in England; depreffion thereof i caufcd by the monopoly of the Stilliard mer- chants. The London merchants confult Cabot; his advice followed i is made Governor of the Merchant Adventurers^ Company for life; frequent interviews zvith the King ; breaks the foreign monopoly ; is liber- ally rewarded by the grateful monarch ; builds thejhips for the new expedition at Brijlol, Jheaths them with lead plates ; firfl introduBion of this fyjlefn into Eng- land; Sir Hugh Willoughby chofen for the command; Caboi'^s wife failing and bufinefs inJlruSiions. •E have no name givc-n for the office which Cabot now filled under the EngHfh Government ; but he feems to have exercifed a general fuper- vifion over the maritime affairs of the king- dom, under the king and the council. We have one inftance left on record in which he vetoed John Allday, who, '* Wanting to go as mafter in a fhip to the Levant, was flayed \'\)^^ ^M He licenfes, and examines pilots. Chart of the Rio de la PI ita. King Edward i VI. Itudies navigation. ' By the prince's letters, which my mailer, Sebaftian Gabote, had obtained for that pur- pofe, to my great grief.' " We hear, alfo, of his being prefent at the examination of a French pilot, who had long frequented the Coaft of Brazil. There is alfo every reafon for believing that the minute inftrudions for navigating the Rio de La Plata, given in Hakluyt, are from his pen. The boy- king had himfclf a great tafte for maritime affairs ; when quite a child he knew all the harbours and ports in France and Scot- land, as well as thofe in his own dominions ; how much water they had, and the way to get into them. We have it on the teftimony of the noble Venetian, Sanuto, that Cabot had explained to the king the whole fubjedl of the variation of the needle, which Guido Gianeti, their mutual friend in London, informed Sanuto '' That Sebaftian Cabot was the firft difcoverer ^-,7^"'"' of this hid fecret of nature ; that he fhowed the extent of the variation, and alfo that it was different in different places." Cdbotexplains to him the variation of the compafs. " Geogra- phia," Sanuto, ib. ptim. fol. I. I?! -.1 H ' M iii I H 'W '111: fir %\ .!•;« Ii''! : r I- ^- I 1* ' ' ! iin If! 1^' I f ■>■ ill 148 High elUem in which Cabot is held Saniito's inftrument. Bartholomew Compagni's evidence as to Cabot's charts, &c. Sanuto proves thecorreiflnefs or Cabot's dedudions. Three copies of Cabot's charts men- tioned. Life of Gianeti refided near to Cabot, and from him and others Sanuto learned that Cabot was held in the higheft efteem. Sanuto had conftruded at Venice an inftru- ment for meafuring the longitude ; hence it became a matter of great importance to him to afcertain a point of no variation. This, after Gianeti had left England, he got from Cabot through another friend, who alfo tells him he faw " a chart of navigation, exe- cuted by hand with the greateft care, and carefully compared with one made by Cabot himfelf, in which the pofition of this meridian was feen to be 110 miles weft of Flores. Sanuto remarks that he had proofs of the accuracy of the report thus made ; he refers repeatedly to the map, which appears to have been fent to him, and adverts to obfervations made by Cabot as to the variation of the compafs at the Equator. Where can all thcfe maps, &c. be? For, befides thofe which Worthington's fhade muft anfwer for, we have at leaft three copies traced — one each to Sanuto, Ortelius, and the Duke of Bedford, at Cheynies — to fay nothing of Sebajiian Cabot, the extrad cut by Clement Adams In this very year, 1549. Where are they ? and echo alone anfwers — Where ? What Cabot's theory of the variation was we are left to conjedure ; this we know, that his tranfatlantic voyages had led him to the fcenes of its moft marked, fudden, and ftriking aberrations. It matters not that in our day Sir James Rofs has been able to reach the fpot and indi- cate the exad: fite, for the time being, of the magnetic pole, which fpot is to the eaft of that mentioned by Cabot. It is ever ofcillating, has no fixed refting point; in the feventeenth century it was con- fiderably to the eaft of the meridian of Green- wich ; in 1660 it was coincident with it, or due north and fouth ; in 1 8 1 8 it had reached to 24° 30' weft ; and fince then it has been flowly diminifhing. In an edition of Ptolemy's *' Geographia," publiflied at Rome in 1508, there is a refer- ence to the Terra Nova and the Baccalaos, Cabot's names for the new lands, and which \ muft have been taken from his charts ; on a i 49 Cibot'smaps, I and his obfer- j vations on the variation of the needle, lolh Change of pofition of magnetic pole. Still ofcillat- ing. Cabot's ap- proximatiun to its fite, pubiifhcd in 150S. "*, .) ! ^- . f IN I II u Sf #' ^«i: tl Iff I 'I- Cabot's viewb practical, and the refult of clofe obferva- tion. He trains others to tollo\\ 'lis fteps, and continue his examinations. He conceives a new projett. Eden's *' De- cades," fol. 256. State of trade in England in Life of map in this work is a fpot pointed out where it ftates " Here the fhips' compafs lofes its property." That Cabot's explanation to the king was more than a mere ftatement of ifolated fafts we gather from this : he reprefented the vari- ation as differing in different places, as not abfolutely regulated by diftance from any par- ticular meridian ; that he could point to a fpot of no variation ; and that thofe whom he trained as feamen, as Chancellor and Stephen Burrough, were particularly attentive to this problem, noting it at one time, thrice within a fhort fpace; fo that, if his theory had been at variance with fadls, his fucceffors would foon have found out the error and expofed it. But, though Cabot's fervices were thus dif- fufive and varied, his indomitable energy was yet to flrike out a new enterprife, perhaps the greateft, at all events the moft fuccefsful, of his long and varied efforts. It had long been maturing in his mind, and now the time for adion had come. A general ftagnation of trade pervaded England, and a lifllefs defpondency brooded Sebajlian Cabot. 51 over its commerce; fo much fo, that the London merchants had an interview with the Briftol navigator, who " happened to be in London," and " after much fearch and con- ference together, it was at laft concluded that three fhips fhould be prepared and furnifhed out for the fearch and difcovery of the northern ^ part of the world, to open a way and paflage to our men for travel to new and unknown regions." (1550.) Letters of incorporation were, on the 14th of December, 1551, procured, wherein it is declared " that, in confideration of his being the chiefeft fetter forth of this journey, or voyage, therefore we make, ordain, and conftitute him, the faid Sebaftian Cabot, to be the firft and prefent governor during his natural life, without removal." This was the beginning of the company of merchant adventurers, of which our citizen was the founder and firft head; the Briftol branch was incorporated under a feparate charter on December 23, 1552. At the very outfet of the fociety, it was to encounter a difficulty, which would have ap- Cabot's inter- view with tlic London merchants. Letters patent of incorpora- tion of the merchant adventurers' company to Ruflia. Hakluyt, vol. i. 268. Briftol charter. f I'.i r i-i 1 111 >i It n 5 The Steelyard merchants of Germany pay Icfs duty un exports. They fraudu- lently import, and monopo- lize the Eng- lifh trade, crufliing the home manu- fafturer. Anderibn, vol. ii. p. 90. M'Pherfon, vol.ii. p. 109. Life of palled a man of fmall mental calibre, and led him to give it up in defpair. The German cities, Antwerp and Ham- burgh, held exclufive pofTefTion of the trade of Northern and Central Europe. By gifts or bribes they had obtained large conceflions in the duties and cuftoms of England. They paid much lefs, for inftance, when they exported Englifh cloth, than the native manufadturer, if he chofe to export, had to pay. In importing goods at a favoured and lower rate for themfelves, they alfo furtively intro- duced large quantities, as their own (for a confideration), at the low rate of duty. Having thus fecured the command of the Englifh market, as well as the monopoly of the foreign, they fet their own value on goods, and adlually brought Englifh wool down to I %d. per flone ; employed no Englifh fhips, and with their joint ftocks playing into each other's hands, crufhed the Englifh merchants. They were called the Stilliard (Steelyard) merchants. Cabot's genius rofe to the occafion. He SebaJ}ian Cabot, He faw no reafon why, thefe impediments once removed, England fhould not become the manufadlory of the world, and her fhips the carriers of its produce. The father of free trade, he fet himfelf againft this monopoly, and manfully did he battle with it. By the king's entries in his private journal we fee the deep intereft that Edward felt in a matter that fo ferioufly concerned the welfare of hisfubjeds; thefe entries are continued over five months, and are often of confiderable length. At laft, on February 23, a. d. 1551, fuc- cefs crowned Cabot's perfevering efforts, and a refult fo aufpicious to commerce, as the breaking up of the clofe monopoly, and fo advantageous to the public revenue was not forgotten. In March '* Sebaftian Caboto, the great feaman, had ^200, by way of the King's Majefty's reward." This huge obftacle removed, the merchant adventurers fet to work in earneft to open the way and paflage to the northern feas. e ordered to be built, ftr 153 C.ibot demurs to this : becomes the fathtr of free trade. King Ed- ward's deep intereft in this matter. Cabot is fuccclstul, ips g and is re- warded by the king. Burnet's "HiftoryRf formation," vol. ii. from the Cotton MSS. Intereft in the new adventure. 'f l:!^ Hi ■: "^^f % ^ r-' J i! I- f ' 1 n :| 1 1? ; 1 1 1 1 ill m. ', I'll M4 Careful (uper- vifion of the new fhips. Introduction of the plan of iheathing with metal. Hakluyt,vol. i. p.243. Cabot then living at Briftol, where, pro- bably, the fiiips were built. The com- pany on the outlook for information. Life of and well-feafoned planks are feleded for the purpofe, and, to guard againft the worms, " Which many times pearceth and eateth through the ftrongeft oake," it is refolved to " cover the keel of the fhippe with thinne fhccts of leade." This was the introduction of fheathing into the Britifli marine ; the art had been pradifed in Spain, and Cabot, if not the original in- ventor, muft be allowed the honour of intro- ducing it into England. Strype tells us : " This famous expedition was fet on foot from Briftowe, where Cabot then lived." We are, therefore, juftified in fuppofing that the fliips were built on the fpot, under his perfonal fupervifion ; and thus we claim for the old city the honour of being the firft place in the kingdom wherein fo ufeful an in- vention was practically applied. The adventurers were on the qui vive for information relating to the northern lands they wifhed to explore, wherever it could be found. Two Tartareans employed about the king's Sebajiian Cabot, ^55 ftables were brought out, and m interpreter employed to afk them about th.ir country, its people, manners, habits, &c. &c., but *' Storv f God blefs you, they had none to tell, firs. But they'd be glad to drink their honors' health, in A pot of beer, if they would give them fixpence. For their own parr, they never loved to meddle" With fcarchings. " Being," fays the old chronicler, " more inclined to tofs pots than to learn the ftates and difpofitions of people." Amongft thofe who mod anxioufly fought command, was Sir Hugh Willoughby, a moft valiant and well-born gentleman, ikilful in the fervice of war, and of a tall and com- manding stature. Eventually he was appointed to the chief command. In command alfo of one of the fhips, with the title of Pilot-major, was Chancellor, a per- fonal friend of Cabot's, who had been brought up with Philip Sydney. He was a {kilful and intrepid feaman, and his remarks on the cuftoms, religious habits, Catch two Tartarcans, but get little information. Sir Hugh Willoughby appointed to thecommand. Richard Chancellor one of the captains. i.fi "I til li li| ^1 r I ■1 P' ■'! 5 F I, k li I. '*» ill 156 A keen, clever man, and perfonal friend of Cabot's. " Decades," t'oL 357. Hakluyt, vol i. p. 233. Cabot's excel- lent inftruc- tions for the guidance and government o*" the expe- dition. Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 226. Life of manners, and laws of the countries he vifited, prove him to have been poflefled of great fhrewdnefs, quick obfervation, and a highly cultured underftanding. His intimacy with Cabot was clofe and reciprocal ; one incident in that great man's hiftory, we alone know through him : viz., Cabot's peril in the Ar6lic fea through a water- fpout. The failing mafter in Chancellor's fhip was Stephen Burrough, afterwards Chief Pilot of England, and of high rank in the navy, William Burrows, afterwards Comptroller of the Navy, and Arthur Pet, were alfo both in the fhip in fome fubordinate capacity. Cabot prepared a book of inftru6tions, which was ordered to be publicly read once a week on board of ^ach fhip. " To the intent that every n:an may better remember his oath, confcience, duty, and charge." Thefe have been juftly regarded as model inftrudlions, and refledl the higheft luftrt on his fagacity, good fenfe, and comprehenfive knowledge. Whilft we can only find room for a few SLhaJlia?2 Cabot, extradls, thefe bits of a great man's mind will fill the reader with regret that all the records of his own Herculean labours have been loft to the world. They are called '* Ordinances, inftrudlions, and advertifernents of and for the direcflion of the intended voyage to Crthay, compiled, made, and delivered by the right worfhipful M. Sebaftian Cabota, Efqr., Governour of the Myfterie and Companie of the Merchants Adventurers, for the difcoverie of regions, dominions, iflands, and places unknowen, the 9th day of May, in the yere of our Lord God 1553, and in the 7 yere of the reigne of our moft dread fovereigne Lord Edward VI., by the grace of God King of England, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, and of the Church of England and Ireland, in earth, fupreme head." '' yth item. That the merchants and other fkilful perfons, in writing, ftiall daily writ-e, defcribe, and put in memorie the navigation of each day and night, with the points and obfervations of the lands, tides, elements, altitude of the funne, courfe of the moon 57 litlc of the inftrudli' ns. "yth item," to keep daily the log, and chronicle all p-iHing occurrences. If III*' m iwii m ■M 4 ill nil PI, i m h I m [.I . -5 I ly ,4 Captainf of the fliips to meet, and compare notes once a week. Names and charadlers of the inhabit- ants of newly difcovered lands. The produdlion of the countries, &c., to be clailified, and talien down in writing. ■Life of and ftarres, and the fame fo noted by the order of the mafter and pilot of every fhip to be put in writing ; the captaine-generall, afTem- bling the mafters together once every weeke (if winde and weather fhall ferve) to conferre all the obfervations and notes of the faid fViips, to the intent it may appeare, wherein the notes do agree and wherein they difTent, and upon good debatement, deliberation, and conclufion, determined to put the fame into a common leger, to remain of record for the company ; the like order to be kept in proportioning of the cardes, aftrolabes, and other inftruments prepared for the voyage, at the charge of the companie." " 27 item. The names of the people of every ifland are to be taken in writing, with the commodities and incommodities of the fame ; their natures, qualities, and difpofi- tions, the fite of the fame, and what things they are moft defirous of, and what com- modities they will moft ".villingly depart with, and what metals they have in hils, mountains, ftreams, or rivers, in or under the earth." Attention to moral and religious duties is ftridly enjoined. " 1 2 item. That no blafpheming of God, or deteftable fwearing, be ufed in any ihip, nor communication of ribaldrie, filthy tales, or ungodly talke, to be fuffered in the company of any ihip, neither dicing, tabling, nor other divelifh games to be frequented, whereby enfueth not onely povertie to the players, but alfo flrife, variance, brauling, fighting, and oftentimes murther, to the utter deftrut^ion of the parties, and provoking of God's moft jull wrath and fworde of vengeance. Thefe and all fuch like peftilences and contagions of vices and finnes to be efchewed, and the offenders once monifhed, and not reforming, to be punifhed at the difcretion of the captaine and mafters as appcrtaineth." " 13 item. That morning and evening prayer with other common ferviccs appointed by the King's Majeftie, and lawes of this realme, to be read and faide in every fhip daily by the minifter u\ the admirall, and the marchant or fome other perfon lear:ied -n other fhips ; and the Bible or paraphrafes to ;Di Swearing, filthy lan- guage, gam- ing, brawling, and fighting prohibited, and to be puniHied. Religious duties en. joincJ. Mom ng aia.J even- .ng prayer, and djjly readii;,of the Scriptj-res to rhe crew . i tm ,.'" ■'V » # !i Public and private prayer recommended. No violence to be ufcd to the natives, but all Chrif- tiaii courtefy .ind gentle- neli to be ihewn. be read devoutly and Chriftianly to God's honour and for his grace to be obtained, and had by humble and hearty prayer of the navi- gants accordingly." " 23 item. Forafmuch as our people and fhippe may appear unto them ftrange and wonderous, and theirs alfo to ours, it is to be confidered how they may be ufed, learning much of their natures and difpofitions by fome one fuch perfon as you may firft either allure or take to be brought aboard your fhippes, and there to learn as you may, without -vio- lence or force, and no woman to be tempted or intreated to incontinence or difhoneftie." " 26 item. Every nation and region to be confidered advifedly, and not to provoke them by any diftance, laughing, contempt, or fuch like ; but to ufe them with prudent cir- cumfpedion, with all gentl^nejs and courtefie ; and not to tarry long in one place until you fhall have attained the mod worthv place that may be found in fuch fort, as you may returne W'th victuals fiifficient profperoufly." In the 32nd item, he refers to the diffi- culties experienced from timidity and incre- be or :ir- pu hat •ne ffi- re- Sebajlian Cabot, duUty ; and fpeaks of the " obftacles which had miniftered matter of fufplcion in fome heads that this voyage could not fucceed, for the extremitie of the North Pole, lacke of pafTage, and fuch like, which have cauftd wavering minds and doubtful heads, not only to withdraw themfelves from the adventures of this voyage, but alfo difluaded others from the fame," &c. &c. " 33rd item of inftruftions. No confpi- racies, parttakings, fad;ions, falfe tales, untrue reports, which be the very feedes and fruits of contention, difcord, and confufion by evil tongues, to be fufFercd, but the fame and all other ungodlinefs to be chaftened charitably with brotherly love, and always obedience to be ufed and pradifed by all perfons in their degrees, not only for duty and conscience fike towards God, under whofe merciful hand navigants above all other creatures naturally be moft nigh and vicine^ but alfo for prudent and worldly policy and publick weale, con- fidering and always having prefent in your minds that you be all one moft loyal king's fubjeds, and naturally with daily remembrance IW Cabot draws on his own pall experi- ence for advice to them when timid fears arife, and advifes rhorougli union. HI itn: !:li M Points out to j th(.m that j 1 ;hry are, { ''^ above all j men. unJer ; Goa's Ipccial j \ protedtion. i; : 5 r^ I : , i' ^li I,. «! 'f 62 Cills to their remembrance the greatnel:! ot' the work, tie honour to thcmfelvcs ,ind reward lo their t.imilies, and the complete- ncl'i of their ecjuipment, and devoutly pr.iys for tiair fucccls. Hakliiyt,vo!. i. p. 227. h Life of of the great importance of the voyage the honour, glory, praife, and benefit that depend of and upon the fame toward the commonwealth of this noble rt-alme, the advancement of you the travelers therein, your wives and children, and fo to endeavour yourfelves as that you may fatisfy the expedation of them who, at their great coftes, charges, and expenfes, have fo furnifhed you in good fort and plenty of all necefTaries as the like was never in any real me feen, ufed or known, requifite and needful for fuch an exploit, which is moft likely to be achieved and brought to good effed, if every perfon in his vocation fhall endeavour himfelf according to his charge and moft bounden duty, praying the living God to give you his grace to accomplifh your charge to his glory, whofe merciful hand (hall profper your voyage and preferve you from all dangers. In wit- nefs whereof I, Sebaftian Gabota, Governor aforefaid, to thefe prefent ordinances have fubfcribed my name and put my feal the day and year above written." Thefe inftrudlions do honour to the man who framed them, and prove him to have \\ Sebajiian Cabot, been a man of fcience, of found pradical bufinefs habits, and in the higheft fenfe of the word a Chriftian gentleman. 163 111 fc jii m- i >$ If iV m I M The expedi- tion (ails May 20tli, I553- CHAPTER X. T/je Expedition fails for the north-eajl ; Chancellor^ s fuc- cefs; WilloiighLys difajlrous fate ; other expeditions pLnncd; high perfonages under Cabot in the company ; Chancellor's wreck and death ; Mufcovite Ambafador favedi his entry into London i Cabot's opinion of liars i his bufnuf orders to the agents ; fncce/sful management of the Company; large increafe of trade. Other cxpe- ditions. The old man jubilant^ gives large alms to the poor that they may pray for the failors ; his piotis com- mendations of them to God. Dark days under Mary ; Philip of Spain lands; Cabot lofes half his Penfon; gets a queflionable partner in his office ; antecedents of Worthington ; Cabot's maps and charts ; Hakiuyt not able to get a fight of them ; miffing ever ftnce ; are they in Spain now? Death-bed ; fays he has infallille method of dif covering the longitude. Is it the Celeflial? Summary of his Ife and character. ^HR fquadron was ready on the 'h^ 20th of May. " The greater fhippes are towed down with boats and oars, and the mariners, being all apparelled in watchett, or fkie-color'd (S^ ii ter ■"d Life of Sehafian Cabot, cloth, rowed amaine, and made way with diligence." " And being come neare to Greenwich, where the Court then lay, prefently, upon the newes thereof, the courtiers came running out, and the common people flocked together, (landing very thicke upon the fhoare ; the privie counfel, they lookt out at the windowes of the Court, and the reft ranne up to the toppes of the towers; the fhippes hereupon difcharge their ordinance and fhoot off" their peaces, after the manner of warre and of the fea ; infomuch that the tops of the hilles founded therewith, the valleys and the waters gave an echo, and the mariners, they ftiouted in fuch fort that the fkie rang againe with the noyfe thereof. One ftood in the poope of the fhippe, and by his gefture bids farewell to his friendes in the beft maner hee coulde. Another walkes upon the hatches, another climbes the fhroudes, another ftands upon the maine yard, and another in the toppe of the fhippe. To be fhorte, it was a very triumph (after a fort) in all refpeds to the beholders. But, alas, the good King Edward (in refpedl '6s Hnkluyt, vol. i. p. 245. Arrives at Greenwicli. Great rejoic- ings on ihore, anil on boarJ the ftiips. '^j 'i I'l ,»ii* IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 '-B ilM I.I illM |||||Z2 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ■^ 6" — ► v] <^ /a /, o ei c-l l'""* o 7 M Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14560 (716) 872-4503 rfl W. i/i i r- ,!?R 1 66 King Edward, fick and dying, takes no part. The Hiips put in at Harwich. P 4 Chancellor's voyage. of whom principally all this was prepared), hee only by reafon of ficknefs was abfent from this fhowe, and not long after the departure of thefe fhippes the lamentable and moft for- rowful accident of his death followed." Th';y put in at Harwich for final orders, and were delayed a while ; " yet, at the lafte, with a good winde, they hoyfted up fayle and committed themfelves to the fea, giving their laft adieu to their native country, which they knew not whether they fhould ever returnc agayne to fee or not. Many of them looked oftentimes backe and could not refraine from teares, confidering into what hazards they were to fall, and what uncertainties of the fea they were to make tryall of." Chancellor himfelf was moved. " His natural and fa- therly afFedion alfo fomewhat troubled him, for he left behinde him two little fonnes, which were in the cafe of orphans if he fpedde not well." Let us follow his fortunes briefly. After a feparation from his conforts in a great ftorm, he reached the rendezvous in Norway, and waited fome days in vain. Difheartening Sebajiian Cabot. reprefentatlons were made to deter him from proceeding, but he remained '* fteadfaft and immutable in his refolution to do or to die," and fo he held on his courfe into the unfa- thomable unknown. Rounding the North Cape, he came to " a place where was no night at all, but a con- tinuall light, and brightnefTe of the fun (hyning clearlie upon the huge and mightie fea ; and havyng the benefit of this perpetual light for certayne days, at length it plc?ared God to bring them to a certayne bay, which was one hundred miles or thereabouts over, whereinto they entered fomewhat farre and caft anchor." Landing near Archangel, then only a caftle, the influence of Cabot's injuncftion as to gen- tlenefs was feen, and had a mod happy refult. The people at firft, half dead with fear, threw themfelves at Chancellor's feet; "but he, in a lovinge forte, did take them up from the grounde, and this humanitie did purchafe to himfelf great favour through the fpreading abroad a report of the ftraiige people, who were yet fo full of lingular gentlenefle and 167 His ftcady detcrmina* tion. Rounds the North Cape. Reaches the White Sea. Lands on the ipot where Archangel now (bnds. Tranquillizes the natives. fS II ■' i68 Is provifioncd by them. Journeys' ovfrljnd to Mofcow. Willoughby's expedition. Hisfrozen-up {hips dif- covered. Some of then-, alive in January, »554. Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 245. Life of courtefie, whereupon the natives fupplied them with victuals freely." It is not the province of the writer to fol- low Chancellor in his fuccefsful overland route to Mofcow, where he had a mod cordial re- ception, and laid the folid foundations of a trade which is carried on to this day. It is with the well-won refults we have more particularly to deal. But ere we do this, let us for a few moments enquire as to the fate of the gallant Willoughby. After being parted from their confort, Chancellor, all trace of him was entirely loft; but, though the fea Hiall not give up its dead till the Archangel's trump fhall found, the icy kingdom does at times unlock its treafure houfe and reveal fome dread ftory of the paft. Long, long afterwards the frozen-up fhips were difcovered ; of courfe, no living beings were there ; but the admiral's journal had been kept, and Gabriel Willoughby's will was attefted by brave Sir Hugh, as late as January 1554. The laft entry defcribed the '* Unknowen Sebajlian Cabot, and moft wonderful wild beafts afTembling in fearful numbers about the (hips." And then Oblivion in mercy draws a pall over the fcene ; but, as one by one falls into the arms of death, we feem to fee the King of the eternal fnows, the Lord of the vaft un- known, as the laft hardy furvivor drops life- lefs by the fide of his unburied comrades, barring afrefh the gate of his terrible domain, whiftling a tempeft dirge amidft the cryftal peaks of his icy mountains, and then burying all record of the bold intruders under a mantle of fleecy fnow. What was the immediate caufe of fo difmal a cataftrophe can now be only matter of con- jedlure ; it could fcarcely have been difeafe or famine, — fome note would in either cafe have been moft probably made in the journal ; the greater probability is, that they fuccumbed to the intenfe cold. Thomfon pathetically laments their fate in the following lines : — " Miferable they Who here, entangled in the gathering ice, Take their laft look of the citTcending fun ; While, full of death, and fierce with tenfold froft, The long, long night incumbent o'er their heads, 169 Their tragic tate. Probable caufe of their death. 170 Life of Falls horrible. Such was the Briton's fate, As with firft prow (what have not Britons dared r) He for the palTage fought, attempted fince. So much in vain." Cabot at work whilft the expedi- tion of Willoughby is away. Organizes a new adven- ture to Guinea. Names of the fhips employed. Cabot, whilft the expedition was making its way towards the north, was not idle. In con- jundlion with Sir George Barnes, the Lord Mayor, Sheriff Garrett, who became Lord Mayor in 1555, York, Wyndham, and other adventurers, he overfees, and, on the 12th of Auguft, I553> defpatches another expedition to Guinea, which we are told failed through the mifcondud of Captain Wyndham. This voyage, for which the King lent two fhips, the ** Primrofe," and the ** Lion," pin- nace, has been by Strype confounded and mixed up with the previoufly defcribed expe- dition, in which we have feen that two of the fhips were totally loft, and the third we fhall find was fo afterwards ; whereas this fhip, the " Primrofe," was in exiftence, and was the admiral's fhip in 1557, in which year fhe was chofen to carry home to Ruftia the ambafTador from that c:)untry, fo that fhe could not have formed one of this firft expedition. Named Sebajiian Cabot, 171 in the charter, and numbered amongft the adventurers, we have the following lift of high officials, comprifing the beft blood and higheft rank in the kingdom. " Our right trufty and well beloved counfellor, William, Marquis of Winchefter, Lord High Treafurer" (a Paulet, who lived to fee 103 defcendants of his own body) ; " Henry, Earl of Arundel, Lord Steward of the Houfehold ; John, Earl of Bedford, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal ; William. Earl of Pembroke" (who this year rode into London to his manfion, Baynard Caftle, with 300 horfe in his retinue, of which 100 of them were gentlemen in plain blue cloth, with chains of gold and badges of a dragon on their (leeves) ; " William Lord Howard, of Effingham, the Lord High Ad- miral of England, &c. &c. &c., all of whom are incorporated under one Governor" (Se- baftian Cabot, as the chiefeft fetter forth of the enterprife) " of the faid fellowftiip and community of merchants adventurers, for the difcovery of lands, territories, ifles, dominions, and feigniories, unknowen, and not before that late adventure by fea commonly fre- HakIuyt,vol. i. p. 267. Noble mem- bers of the company who lerved with and under Governor Cabot. 172 Intcftine broils break up the adven- turers to a large extent. Philip of Spain, by his policy, hin- ders an ex- ten Hon of their plans. Chancellor gets a charter tor Governor Cabot to tra^e with RuHia. Life of quented ; which, by the fufFerance and grace of Almighty God, it fhall chaunce them failing northwards, north eaftwards, or north-weft- wards, to finde and attain, by their faid ad- venture," &c. &c. &c. Thefe extenfive fchemes of commerce and difcovery were overfhadowed by the domeftic broils which foon followed, feparating the noble adventurers into virulent oppofing fadlions. Mary's huft)and, Philip of Spain, to ferve his own purpofes, managed to embroil this country in a war with France, which ftill fur- ther deranged the ambitious views of the company, fo that their own attempts were re- ftrided to their firft, or RufTian fpeculation, to which we now return very briefly. Chancellor obtained from the Emperor of RufTia a charter to Sebaftian Cabota, Governor, Sir George Barnes, Knight, &c., Confuls, Sir John Greftiam, and others, afliftants, and to the " commonaltie of the aforenamed fellow- ftiip " and to their fuccefTors for ever, &c. &c., containing certain privileges which placed their future commercial intercourfe upon the moft liberal and fecure footing. ■^ II On a fubfequent voyage of Chancellor's the Emperor fent back with him Ofep Nepea Gregorowitch, as his orator or ambafTador, together with four (hips heavily laden with furs, wax, train-oil, and other Ruffian com- modities, to the value of upwards of £20,000, which belonged partly to the merchants and partly to the orator ; two of thefe fhips were wrecked on the coaft of Norway — one reached the Thames in fafety ; but the " Edward Bonaventure," Chancellor's own (hip, was driven on the rocks at Pitfligo, in Scotland, and the intrepid Grand Pilot (which Chan- cellor now by appointment had become), whilft trying to fave the ambafTador and ftven of his attendants in his own boat, perifhed clofe to the land. " The noble ambaflador being, by God's prefervation and of fpecial favour, with a fewe others, only withe much difficultie, faved." As foon as the fad tidings reached London, provifion was made for the wants of the fhip- wrecked Mufcovite ; and on his approach to London, on the 27th of February, 1557, he was met, twelve miles out of the city, by The Emperor of Ruflia fends, by Chancellor, an ambafTa- dor Co Eng- land in 1556, when Chan* cellor is wrecked, but faves the ambaHador't life at the j coft of his own. '74 Theambafla' dor drawl near London, and is met by a royal cavalcade, and one hundred and forty mer- chant adven- turers on horfebaclc with Governor Cabot. fourfcore merchants, with chains of gold and goodly apparel, with an array of menfervants in one uniform livery, upon good horfes and geldings, who conducted him to a merchant's houfe four miles from London, and fupplying him with gold, velvet, filk, and all furniture requifite ; he had a riding garment made for him by the next day. Then the merchants adventuring for Ruflia, to the number of one hundred and forty perfonSy and fo many or more fervants in one livery, conducted him towards the City of London, fhowing him by the way the hunting of the fox, and many other fuch like fports. The Right Honourable Vifcount Montague, a fpe- cial meflenger from the Queen, here met and embraced him by commandment, and, with three hundred knights and gentlemen, accom- panied him to London ; at the north part of which, four notable merchants prefented to him a right fair and large gelding, richly trapped, together with a foot-cloth of orient crimfon velvet, enriched with gold lace, all furnifhed in the mod glorious fafhion, the prefent gift of the faid merchants. Seba/lian Cabot. At Smithfield Bars the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in fcarlet received him, and fo pre- ceded by the merchants and notable perfon- ages, and riding between the Lord Mayor and Lord Montague, with a large troop of fervants and apprentices following, he was conducted to his lodgings in " Fantchurch- ftreet, with greate admiration and plaufi- bilitie of the people, running plentifullie on all fides, and replenyftiinge all ftreetes in fuch fort as no man without difficultie might pafle." Here, in " two chambers richly hanged and decked, with an ample rich cupboard of plate," he abode until the 3rd of May, receiving many aldermen and the graveft perfonages of the faid company, who provided for his table as appertayned to an ambaflador of fuch honour." But the wary old Governor had feen fo- reigners before, and in their own homes, and he feems verv foon to have " Scratched the (kin and difcovered the Tartar ;" for, writing to their agents in Ruffia foon after Ofep's arrival, he fays : — " Wee doe not finde the ambafiadour nowe ^7S At the City bounds the Lord Mayor and Corpora* I tion meet, I and give \\\m welcome. His lodging. Cabot looks beneath the lurface, n\ and records his opinion of the ambaflador. Cabot a lover of truth. The trade with Ruflia on the increale. Life of at the lad Co conformable to reafon as wee had thought wee fhoulde. Hee is very mif- truftfull and thinketh every man will beguile him. Therefore you had neede to take heede howe you have to doe with him, or with any fuch, and to make your bargains plaine, and to fet them downe in writing. P'or they be fubtill people, and doe not alwaies fpeake the truth, and thinke other men toe be like them- felves ; therefore we would have none of them to fend any goods in our fhips at any time, nor none to come for palTengers." Riches, honours, and high pofitions, had not fpoiled the old Briftol mariner; truth and he had fhaken hands, and were bofom friends now ; he doefn't like a liar, even though he reprefent an emperor ; " fo pray don't let any more of that fort come into England — the fample is enough — keep out the bulk." Meanwhile the trade increafes; in 1557 four fhips fail for Ruflia — one of them the ** Primrofe," carrying the ambaflador, the mafter of which fhip, *' under God, was John Buckland," thefe were all laden with cloths, Sebajlian Cabot. ^77 cottons, and pewter. Seven rope-makers were fent out to work up the raw flax and hemp, and to teach the trade to the natives, fo that when thefe return, ** we may not be deftitute of good workmen, for we efteem this a prin- cipal commoditie, and that the counjel of Eng- land doth well allow e'' Ten young men, as appr'^ntices, went out alfo in the fleet, who were to be nppjlnted to various offices and places, to kcjp accounts, to buy and fell, or to go as agents to notable cities of the country, for obfervation, uiider- ftanding, and knowledge. They alfo fent a fkinner " to view and fee fuch furs as you (hall cheape or buy," but they inftrud them " that fables, and fuch rich furs as they, bee not every man's money, and fo fend but few." Underftanding alfo " that in Permia and Ugory there is great quantity of yewe, which is a fpecial commoditie for our real me," they fend out Leonard Brian " to fliewe how it fhould be cut down and cloven," The chief return in lading was to be of " wexe, flaxe, tallow, and trayne oil, and in Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 297. Tcachei the natives rope- making, by advice of the Privy Council Apprentices taken to le.iri the duties of agenu. Skinner Tent to choulc the right Ibrt of furs, and a bowyer to feled yew for bows. N u ,u-' ■ Ruflia i '"" ■ leather, and [jgy 1 the dyes uftd hh in Its manu- mm ' fafture. w ^' ¥■' ' |:; : To note the v^ weights and 1^ mea/ures J [ ' alfo the goods Mk that fuit, and mti the value of *', the money. T1 Tartar fteel the beft. Copper plentiful. future voyages they were to add cables, ropes, and linen yarn." They are alfo to look out for the fteel of the Tartars, which is faid to be better than the Ruffian, and both of them very plentiful. To keep their eye alfo on the copper of the country, " either in plates or round cakes, for of that alfo there is faid to be great plenty ;" and to fend fpecimens of every commodity in the country, as famples. Efpecially were they to, be mindful of this in the matter of leather ; " alfo of the herbs, earch, or whatfoever the Ruffians dye with, and to be fure and fend famples of what they get for that purpofe from the Turks and the Tartars." They were &ifo to note well what Engliffi goods beft fuited the different parts of the vaft country, and to " certify how their weights and meafures do anfwer to ours ; alfo to fend over three roubles in money, that we may 1. y the juft value of them." (This inveftment will certainly not break the company.) Another letter advifes the buy , ig up of the wax by the company, as it is plentiful and iM Sebajlian Cabot. cheap. " A good and fafe article for the realme, fo that, having it wholly in our hands, we may ferve our own country and others, and fo to pay for it, that it may not be on their hands who have it to fell." The wax chandlery in thofe days was one of the wealthieft trades in the kingdom. One hundred and forty tuns of cafks in ftaves were now fent for the oil, and all the agents were directed to correfpond regularly with head-quarters at Mofcow, and to keep the merchant there well pofted up in all matters relating to the country, its wants, and the trade of their feveral ftations, "that he may give us large inftrudtions, as well what is folde and boughte, as alfo what lading we fhall take ; alfo what kind of goods we fhall fend. " For we muft procure to utter good quan- tity of wares, efpecially thofe of our own realm, although we afford a good pennyworth^ to the intent to make other that have traded thitherto weary, and fo to bring ourfelves and our goods into eftimation, and likewife to procure and have Lie chief commodities of 179 Advifes the buying up of all the wax. Caflcs in ftaves lent for oil. AJvifcs the under-ielling all other nations. I I ^^^mmmmmnmm^ . .m-m^.- , i : -•>,'' i^* 'I ii j \fiA Correfpond- ence to be in cypher. Whalingtradc originated. Other expe- ditions. All due to Cabot's wifdom. that country in our hands — as waxe, and fuch others, that other nations may be ferved by us and at our hands.'* They are alfo inftru(5led to write in cypher all letters which they fend overland ; but with the fhips they are to fend home one of their moft intelligent young men (Arthur Edwards is named), "to certify us in any doubts, whom we will remit to you again in the next fhip." Nor is the energy and bufinefs tacfl, here difplayed by the worfhipful and worthy old governor, confined to him or to his company. The whaling trade to Spitzbergen owes its origin to their difcovery, and was foon carried on with good refults. An impulfe had been given to England which quickened its commerce, and refulted in expeditions, which were fent in different directions in this and the following reign. And all this change is due, " under God," as they ever pioufly fay, to the found advice which, in their hour of deepeft depreffion of trade, was given to them by the great Briftol feaman, and to the wifdom with which he governed the company, as fcen in his feveral rules and orders. His genius, indeed, not only quickened its commerce to life, but his paternal care nou- rifhed it to its manhood. Soon there grew up an extenfive eftablifh- ment in Mofcow, for, in 1571, when the Tar- tars forced the city and gave all to the flames (fave the kremlin into which the Czar had retired), many Englifhmen in the fervice of the company perifhed. In one houfe, it is faid, " twenty-five Eng- lifhmen perifhed in one beer-cellar, and yet in that fame cellar Rafe, his wife, John Brown, and John Clarke were preferved, which was wonderful." It had happened that on Chancellor's firft vifit to Mofcow he met with an unexpedbed friend in the « AmbafTador from the Kinge of Perfia, called the great Sophie," who was all clothed in rich fcarlet, and who fpoke to the Emperor of our men, of whofe kingdom and trade he was not ignorant. This interview led to the miflion to Perfia of Antony Jenkinfon, and the opening up of 181 Mofcow burnt. Twenty-five En:,'liflimcn perifh in one cellar. Chnncelior's friend from i'erfia at Mofcow. Miflion to Fcrlia. 1 II u t M! 182 Laft flcetch of Cabot. The « Sea. thrift," Capt. Stephen Burroughs, fitted out for the north. Cabot's judg- ment of charadler. Life of a trade with that kingdom, where we are in- formed, fays Cabot's correfpondent, '' that raw filke is as plentiful as flax in RufTia." We get one more, and that a life-like flcetch, almoft a photograph, of the old man jubilant, ere the curtain falls, and fhuts him into the Forever, Stephen Burroughs, who had been with Chancellor, was again defpatched to the north, in 1556, in a pinnace called the " Seathrift,'^ and in his journal he gives us a glimpfe of the anxious fupervifion of Cabot, and of his unwillingnefs to quit them until the very laft moment of their failing. We catch the genial fmile, marvel at the wonderful unbroken fpirit, and note how the wife old man gauged and underftood the cha- rafter of thofe who furrounded him, and knew how to leave a lafting impreffion on their minds that there would ever be a feeling of warm and loving fympathy cherifhed for them, though far, far away, by thofe who were com- pelled to ftay at home, " On the 27th of April, being Monday, the Right Worfhipful Sebaftian Caboto came Sebajlian Cabot, aboord our pinnede at Gravefend, accompanied with divers gentlemen and gentlewomen, who, after that they had viewed our pinnefTe, and tafted of fuch cheere as wee could make them aboarde, they went on fhore, giveing to our marriners right liberal reward^s. And the goode olde gentleman, Mafter Cabota, gave to the poore moft liberall almes, wiihing them to praye for the good fortune and profperous fuccefle of the ' Serchthrift,' our pinnefle. " And then, at the fign of the Chriftopher, he and his friends banketted, and made me and them that were in the companie great cheere ; and, for very joy that he had to fee the towardnefle of our intended difcovery, he entered into the dance himfelf, amongft the reft of the younge and lufty company ; which being ended, hee and his friends departed, moft gently commending us to the govern- ance of Almighty God." Sixty and one years have rolled away fince the date of the firft patent, under which Cabot failed and found a new world ; and green, vigorous, and cheerful is the ripe old age to which he has attained. '83 He, with divers others, gives the mariners a feaft at Gravelend. Enters joy- fully into their fports, and, com- mending them to God, bids them farewell. Sixty one years fince the firft patent in fearch of the new land. iff IM Philip of Spain, Que* n Mary's huf- band, arrives in England. He is no friend to Cabot, who has to refign office, and alfo to lofe his penlion. Worthington appointed thereto. But, alas ! Queen Mary did not love thofe who had been the friends of her brother. Her hufband, Philip of Spain, who threat- ened and dunned her into a war with France, who withheld the meagre penfion from a father who had given to him an empire, came to England May 20th, 1557. Sebaftian Cabot had, as we have feen, left the fervice of Philip's father, and refufed to return. He was now imparting to ot ers the benefit of his fkill and experience, and making England the fuccefsful rival of Spain upon the ocean. Thofe who have ftudied the charadler of that monarch will not think it a ftrange coin- cidence that, on the 27th, or juft one week after the King's landing on Englifh (hores, the great feaman, who had fet his father at nought, had, under preffure, to refign his office and penfion, granted to him for life by King Edward VI. Two days afterwards William Worthington was aflbciated with him in the office, to which he was reinftated, and he alfo took half the old man's penfion. All that we know previoufly of this Wor- thington is, that he was a defaulter in the days of King Edward, who forgave him a confider- able amount, of which he faid he had been robbed by a runaway fervant. This man had now the cuftody of Cabot's " maps, charts, and difcourfes, written with his own hand," by virtue of the office into which he had been foifted. Such documents would be fecured by Philip at any price. He had put Worthington into the office, and . Well, the reader may draw his own conclufion. We fliould be glad if Spain, rejoicing in her newly-found liberty, would let us look at them if (he can. We accufe no one, but we have a deep fufpicion that they may yet be found amongft her archives. Hakluytj to whofe tafte and refearch our naval hiftory owes fo much, though now and then, as in Cabot's cafe, he took liberties with the text, and, as he thought, correded paflages where he deemed the original, from which he tranflated, was wrong, erring only in his judgment. Hakluyt, twenty years after His previous charaftcr. He has charge of Cabot's maps, &c. Are they in Spain ? w- B Hakluyt's opinion. Eden's ac count of Cabot's death, ere he himfelf was made a pre- bendary of Briftol, tried often, he tells us, to get a fight of this precious colle<5lion of Cabot's, and met with repeated and peremp- tory refufals from Worth ington, for which there appears to have been no adequate mo- tive. And hence, in the preface to his great and valuable work, Hakluyt fays that "the office of pilot-major was, not long after Cabot's death, to the great hindrance of the commonwealth, miferably turned to other pri- vate ufes." Henceforth we lofe fight of the good old man. " Ingratitude, more ftrong than traitor's arms, quite vanquifiied him ; then burft his mighty heart." His faithful and attached friend, Richard Eden, jufl: beckons us to fee him die. It is with fomething like awe we gather cTbot'sdeatii. I round the bed and find " the ruling paffion "Snerus," j ^''^^g J" death." " As the fpirit ftruggles ^i"ryi'BVit"il ' ^'^^ ^^^ ^^^y>" " ^^ ^P^^^s flightily about a Muieum. Divine revelation to him of a new and infal- I lible method of finding the longitude, which he could not difclofe to any mortal." Sebajlian Cabot ^ 187 Perchance Eden underftood him not, and the dying man was thinking of Him " who, as far as the eaft is from the weft, hath fo far removed our tranfgreffions from us." In the infinite ocean of the love of his Saviour he found no variation, but a folid data, from which neither length, or breadth, or depth, or height could feparate him ; which, paffing all human underftanding, was partially revealed in the glimpfe which his dying eye caught of the Spirit World, beyond the river, and fo, joyoufly and truftfully, like a child in his old age, he fank to his reft. At even-tide it was light. The date of his death, like that of his birth, is unknown, and we can only infer that it was in or near London, from the fadl that Eden, who lived there, was prefent. Even where his afties lie is a myftery ; and he who gave to England a continent, and to Spain an empire, lies in fome unknown tomb. He created our navy and made it into a profeflion, in which, at firft, landfmen and commanders of eminence on ftiore — like Sir Hugh Willoughby — were promoted to high I Cabot finds the Celeftial longitude. Date of his death un- known, or the place of his burial. Summary of" his labours for the British navy. Campbell's opinion of Cabot. His dif- coveiies, labours, wifdom, gentlenefs, ftation. But it was foon feen to be, not only highly defirable, but abfolutely neceflary that feamen fhould, from boyhood, be trained for future command on the deep, and that every commander of a fhip fhould be a thorough failor. Campbell terms him the author of our maritime ftrength ; and it is impofTible for even the moft curfory reader of thefe pages to be blind to the immenfe fervices which he rendered to this nation, whofe power and pofition in the world have been won by her commerce and her fhips. This man, who furveyed and depi<5led three thoufand miles of a coaft which he had dis- covered ; who gave to Britain, not only the . continent, but the untold riches of the deep, in the fifheries of Newfoundland, and the whale fifhery of the Ardic Sea ; who broke up a monopoly that, vampire-like, was fucking out England's infant ftrength, and unlocked for her the treafures of the world, faying, " Go, win and then wear them ;" who is never re- ported to have ftruck an aggrefTive blow ; who made enemies into friends, and whofe friends Sehajiian Cabot. 189 were ever warmly attached to him ; who, by his uprightnefs and fair dealing, raifed Eng- land's name high atnong the nations, placed her credit on a folid foundation, and made her citizens refpefted ; v;ho was the father of free trade, and gave us the carrying trade of the world : this man has not a ftatue in the city that gave him birth, or in the metropolis of the country he fo greatly enriched, or a name on the land he difcovered. Emphatically, the moft fcientific feaman of his own or, perhaps, many fubfequent ages — -one of the gentleft, braveft, beft of men — his adlions have been mifreprefented, his difcoveries denied, his deeds afcribed to others, and calumny has flung its filth on his memory. We have ftriven to clear away the mifre- prefentations with which ignorance, prejudice, and malignity have overlaid his life and ac- tions, and to bring out the man from the fhroud in which oblivion had partially en- wrapped him. To us it has been indeed a labour of love ; for, like fome glorious antique in an acropolis of weeds, he grew in beauty as we lifted ofF, and high and honour- ablccharadtcr, a public gain to England, and the feed whence Iprung our commercial greatnels. This a labour of love, 190 to clear his charaftcr, and fudain his fair fame. Life of Sebajiian Cabot, one after another, the afperfions which had been cad upon him, until, as the lafl {lain was removed, and our loving work was done, as he ftood before us in the majefty of his true manhood, we were amazed that fuch a man fhould have remained fo little known, and our only forrow in connexion with our work was this — that the tafk of exhuming his reputation had not fallen into abler and more efficient hands. Vale. 'm^^^^mm^ PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKIN3, rOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.